Tangled Web
by Empress of the Eclipse
Summary: Matt and Sora are cheating on each other. With the same person. Who will Tai choose? And what will the other one do when they find out? TAITO, TAIORA and SORATO. **NOW COMPLETE!**
1. One Man and His Lover(s)

A Tangled Web  
One Man and his Lover(s)  
By Starrysapphire, Taito Empress  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon. If I did, this would hardly be on fanfic.net now would it? I also filched some of the children's names from A Girl Named Goo - thanks!   
Warning - this is TAITO meaning Tai + Matt meaning YAOI. Okay? It's also SORATO and TAIORA (whatever about the pairing, isn't Taiora a cool word?) So you've been warned about all couplings.  
Screw whatever jobs episode 50 says they're doing, I've made up my own (Ambassador to the Digital World? Um WHAT? And Matt being an astronaut is just silly.) So in this fic, Tai works for a sex-phone line, Matt just works in some dumb office and Sora gets to be in fashion like she originally is.  
Oh and Kari's married to Davis. He gets to be in charge of a noodle cart, he can marry Kari. But they've only got one kid because I don't think they've had time to have another one yet.   
  
Tai was woken up by the phone ringing. He glared at it before answering it.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey Tai."  
Tai grinned.  
"Hi Matt. How are things?"  
"Don't ask. Can I come over tonight? Sora's driving me crazy and I need a break."  
Tai swallowed feeling a wave of apprehension.  
"Sure you can Matt," he said "Sento's out at a friends so we'll have the place to ourselves."  
"Great. Thanks."  
"See you."  
Tai put the phone down and leaned back on his bed. Just as he was dozing off again, the phone rang again. He growled before picking it up.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi Tai."  
Tai's stomach crunched up unpleasantly.  
"Hey Sora," he said softly "How're things?"  
"Not so good. Things are pretty bad over here. Can I come over tonight?"  
"Sorry Sora. No can do," Tai said "Things are going on tonight."  
"Oh," Sora said sounding disappointed.  
"How about tomorrow?" Tai suggested "I'm free."  
"Sure!" Sora said "I'll see you then!"  
Tai rang off and lay back again, all his sleepiness gone. How had he gotten himself into this mess?  
Tai had known that he was different from everyone else from a quite young age. When all the other boys in his class had just been having crushes on girls, he'd been having crushes on guys too. This would have upset most people immensely but Tai had simply accepted it and kept his crushes on boys a secret. It had been difficult - Tai's hormones were like his hair had been; completely wild and he got crushes on practically everything which moved. With the exception of his sister, Tai had had a crush on every single member of the Digidestined at one time or another. Not that Tai would ever admit this in court. The fact that he'd had crushes on Joe and Davis was nothing to be proud of. And he'd been pretty good at hiding them from everyone anyway. The only ones he'd ever acted on were Sora and Matt.  
He and Sora had started dating after they'd first come back from the Digiworld. They'd dated for quite a while before they broke it off, deciding that it wasn't really going anywhere. They were quite content to remain friends. Their relationship had never really gone further than that anyway, barring the odd kiss and cuddle.  
With Matt on the other hand....  
Tai found himself smiling slightly at the memory. Matt had been at his place and they'd been listening to music. Tai had had his eyes closed, half dozing, when suddenly Matt was holding his face and his lips had been pressed against Tai's own. Opening his eyes, he'd stared at Matt who was looking slightly shocked and blushing.  
"Sorry," he mumbled "I've just...."  
Then Tai found himself kissing Matt back hungrily. It was like being possessed by something, something that just wanted to rip all of Matt's clothes off and have him right then and there. Matt seemed to have the same urge as he was tugging at Tai's top, his hands moving over Tai's chest and arms. If it hadn't been for Kari arriving home at right that moment, who knew what would have happened. He'd been slightly shocked by the intensity of his lust for Matt and he had to admit that it scared him a little. Okay, he'd been used to fantasising about doing something like that to everyone that moved but actually doing it? That was a different kettle of fish. Never-the-less, his fears hadn't kept him away from Matt and although they'd never gone beyond kissing and groping, it had been a pretty passionate relationship.   
But then they'd broken up. Matt wanted more than just a lust and groping. He'd wanted commitment, something that Tai had been unwilling to give. So they'd broken up. Tai had drifted for a while (still lusting after everything that moved). By that time, he'd started to notice Sora again and wanted to restart his relationship with her.  
Only it had been too late.  
To his shock he'd realised that Sora liked Matt. He'd been even more surprised when Matt had started dating her. Matt had told him that he was gay, not bi and that he didn't like any girls that way. Tai had his own suspicions about why Matt was dating Sora but he kept them to himself. When they'd married straight out of school, Tai had watched silently. He'd been happy for them but he couldn't help feeling....  
He'd got married himself but it hadn't lasted. Most teenagers lost their crazy hormones. Tai's never seemed to have settled. His wife had objected to him eyeing up everyone in sight. She'd also objected to his job. Tai couldn't settle for a normal job and had eventually got one working for a sex-phone line (a job that meant he could work off lots of his excess tension), talking to both women and men. His wife hadn't appreciated it. At all. She'd eventually left him for another guy. Tai hadn't really cared. The only thing he had cared about was losing his son, Sento. Tai had battled with her for custody of Sento and had won. He had a string of flighty affairs (with both men and women) but he still didn't want to settle down with any of them. It was just a way of satisfying his hormones. His job also helped with this and he got quite a lot of money for his work too. He was careful to make sure that Sento never saw any of this, often sending him over to play with Matt and Sora's sons, Tanoshii and Shinji.   
Until he'd discovered about Matt and Sora's problems. That was when all of his problems had really begun.   
Sora had been the one who'd told him. She'd come over for coffee and poured it all out, how Matt didn't seem happy, how they practically never slept together anymore, how they barely even talked. She was scared that he was having an affair. Tai had tried to comfort and soothe her, making excuses for Matt, saying that he was probably having a hard time at work and how Matt would never do that to her. But he'd felt a sinking feeling. He felt that Matt would do that to Sora, all too easily. He personally felt that Matt had only married Sora to prove to himself that he wasn't gay and that he was probably having an affair with another man.  
But that still wasn't really an excuse for what he did next.  
He still wasn't quite sure how it had happened but one minute, they'd been talking, the next they'd been kissing. It had been ages (well, by his standards) since Tai had slept with anyone and Sora was still very pretty and very eager...  
Afterwards he'd felt very guilty. He wasn't sure if Sora was feeling guilty or not. But she left him her private mobile number. And Tai knew that he'd be calling it. He'd never really got over Sora and he still really liked her. And she had proved very satisfying...  
Then some days later, Matt had come over. Tai hadn't been expecting him and knew that that had to mean that he was the only person Matt could talk to about this. Matt had been very quiet and unresponsive at first but Tai had continued probing and eventually Matt had admitted that he didn't think he loved Sora anymore. He wanted to stay with her because of the boys but he wasn't sure how much more he could take. Sora just wasn't what he wanted. He was gay, he couldn't deny it anymore. Only he didn't want to put Tanoshii and Shinji what he'd been though as a kid. He just didn't know what to do.  
Tai had felt ripped apart listening to this. He could see how upset Matt was about it, how worried. Uncertainly, he'd wrapped his arms round Matt and held him as he cried. As he'd sat there, gently stroking his friend's hair, the teenage-hormones suddenly sprang up again. He'd forgotten how nice it felt to hold Matt in his arms, how beautiful Matt was...  
He hadn't realised that he'd unconsciously drawn Matt closer or that his grip had adjusted so that he was holding Matt in less of a comforting way and more of a I-want-you way. Matt had looked up at him, confused. Then Tai had found himself kissing Matt gently. As soon as his lips touched Matt's, Matt had wrapped his arms round him kissing him back eagerly. The one little voice of sanity that sometimes lurked in Tai's brain had told him that this wasn't only stupid, it was completely crazy. But Tai had ignored it, intent on being with Matt.   
Tai groaned. Now he really wished he'd listened to the little voice. He knew that his best friend was cheating on his wife who also happened to be his other best friend and he was cheating his best friend with his wife but he was also cheating on her with his best friend....  
Tai gave another hollow groan. His head was spinning. He pressed his face into the pillows.  
"I am just such a baka," he mumbled.  
But baka or not, he still hadn't managed to give either of them up. And so far they'd all managed to keep various loved ones from finding out about the bizarre love triangle thing.  
"Maybe we should go on Jerry Springer," Tai reflected out loud.  
He could just imagine the caption now. Something like 'Bizarre Love-Triangles'. Now that would really be embarrassing.  
Tai decided that it might be a good idea to avoid the Jerry Springer show.  
Scrambling out of bed he began to prepare for work, still wondering how on Earth he could untangle the mess he was in.  
* * * *  
Matt sat frowning to himself. He was in a mess.  
"Daddy?"   
Blinking, Matt glanced down at Tanoshii, his seven year old son. Tanoshii peered back up at him with eyes as blue as Matt's own.  
"What's up?"  
"Nothing," Matt told him "I was just thinking."  
"We could hear the wheel squeaking!" five year old Shinji called from where he was sitting.  
Matt snorted.  
"Uncle Tai taught you that one didn't he?" he said.  
Shinji blinked innocently at his father. The more innocent Shinji looked, the more likely that you were right about what you'd guessed.  
"I knew it," Matt said "I'll get him later."  
He felt himself blush slightly as he thought about what he'd just said. He really would 'get' Tai later.  
Matt sighed. The more he thought about it, the more his life was a mess. When he'd been younger, he'd accepted that he was gay, that he was in love with Tai. He and Tai had dated (sort of) for a short amount of time until Matt had wanted more commitment than Tai and they'd broken up. Matt buried all his feelings for Tai deep in a little box and pretended that he didn't feel anything for Tai except friendship. Then he'd got scared. He wasn't even sure why but he'd been desperate to be normal. So he'd denied being gay and started dating Sora. He'd married her straight out of school to prove to himself that he was normal and he wasn't gay. Things had been okay at first. They'd had Tanoshii and then Shinji. It hadn't always been the best but it had by no means been the worst of marriages.  
But Matt grew more and more discontented. He knew that he was gay, that he didn't really love Sora. He didn't want her anymore either, made excuses not to sleep with her. He found it more and more difficult to spend time with her, party because of guilt. He knew that he'd been wrong to marry Sora, that he'd never really loved her in the way she wanted him to. If it wasn't for the boys, he'd have left Sora a long time ago. But he knew what it was like to have parents split up. And he didn't want to make his sons unhappy. So he'd stuck with it. He'd turned to Tai instead, poured out all his problems to his best friend.  
Then Tai had kissed him. Matt hadn't intended for it to happen, hadn't meant to start cheating on Sora, but once Tai had kissed him, all of Matt's feelings had over-flowed out of the box and proved impossible to hide. He'd needed Tai, needed him more than anything. As far as he knew, Sora didn't suspect anything. She seemed happy enough, oblivious to any problems. They'd even started sleeping together again. Sparingly, but they were. It looked a happy enough marriage.  
Only Matt was in love with Tai. And he didn't know what to do about it. He wasn't even sure if Tai loved him back. But he wanted to find out.  
Then he could decide where to go next.  
* * * *  
"I don't want to go," Sento announced sulkily "I want to stay home."  
"You normally like going over to Akemi's," Tai said, smothering irritation "I thought you'd like to go."  
"You just don't want me here," Sento said.  
"That's not true," Tai said.  
"Then why am I always being sent out?" Sento asked.  
Tai paused.  
"It's because you've got a girlfriend or boyfriend coming over isn't it?" Sento said.  
Tai sighed. Not for the first time, he wondered why his son had to be quite so intelligent. Obviously Sento had seen more of his boyfriends and girlfriends than Tai had realised. He was positive that when he'd been seven, he hadn't noticed stuff like this.  
On the other hand, when he'd been seven, he'd had more hair than brain.  
"Look Sento," he said "Would you like me to see if you can go to Auntie Kari's instead of over to a friends? You can play with Shinseru."  
Shinseru was Kari's son. Sento paused, frowning. He liked Auntie Kari and he quite liked Shinseru.  
"Okay," he said at last.   
Tai dialled Kari's number.  
"Hey Kari," he said "Listen, can you have Sento over at yours tonight? He won't go to any of his friends and I need him out."  
"Tai," Kari said sounding irritated "Has it occurred to you that I might have plans?"  
"Yes," Tai said "That's why I'm asking. Oh please, oh please, oh please?"  
"But Davis and I were going to go out," Kari said crossly.  
"Pleeeeeeeeease?"  
Kari paused. Tai heard her saying something muffledly to Davis. Then she uncovered the handpiece.  
"On one condition."  
"What?" Tai asked.  
"That you and I have some serious words next weekend," Kari said "You hear me? You come over and you and I are going to talk."  
Tai winced. That didn't sound promising. On the other hand, if he wanted any time with Matt, he'd have to agree.  
"Sure. Okay. Kari you are a lifesaver!" he said.  
"I know," Kari said "Tell Sento that I'll make fudge with him if he wants."  
Tai agreed and told him. Sento leapt around cheering which meant he was pleased. Tai relaxed. Things would be okay now. He could always count on Kari when he was desperate. On the other hand, she wanted a talk. That was always slightly worrying. Kari was his younger sister but she often gave him the impression of being a lot older than him. She was happily settled and Tai was still drifting. Still...  
It would be worth it.  
* * * *  
When Matt arrived, Tai had only just got back from delivering Sento to Kari. He let Matt in and closed the door before kissing his boyfriend. Matt kissed him back eagerly, wrapping his arms round Tai.  
"Hey Matt," Tai said, breaking it off and grinning at him.  
"Hi," Matt said looking slightly breathless "Nice to see you."  
"Isn't it always?" Tai teased him. He pulled Matt into the bedroom and they lay down on the bed together. Tai cuddled Matt close as he normally did.  
"So what's the problem back home?" he asked.  
"Sora's going into one of her 'I don't feel we're connected anymore' phases," Matt said "Soon it'll be followed by 'I think that we need marriage guidance' or something. And she's nagging me again."  
Tai sighed. He hugged Matt closer and kissed the top of his head.  
"Never mind," he said comfortingly "It could be worse."  
"How?" Matt asked "I'm stuck in an unhappy marriage. How can it be worse?"  
"You might not have me around!" Tai said.  
Matt gave him a playful shove.  
"Your ego's getting too big again," he said with a laugh. Then his smile faded and he looked thoughtful.  
"What?" Tai asked.  
Matt swallowed.  
"Tai," he said "I think.....I know....there's something I need to tell you."  
"Spit it out," Tai said.  
Matt swallowed  
"I love you," he blurted.  
Tai stared at him 'Oh sh....'  
"You love me?" he repeated.  
Matt nodded.  
"Yes," he said quietly "I've loved you for years but I....and now...."  
He was beginning to look distressed.  
"Do you....?"  
Tai was saved from answering when his phone rang. He reached over and picked it up.  
"Yagami residence."  
"Hi Tai."  
Tai nearly fell off the bed. It was Sora.  
"Hi!" he said, trying to force his voice to sound natural and pressing the phone to his ear so that Matt couldn't hear her voice "What's up?"  
"I'm just lonely," Sora said "Matt's out - again - and Tanoshii and Shinji are just quietly playing and they don't want me. I just want to talk to you."  
"Now isn't really a good time," Tai said.  
It really wasn't. Matt had snuggled up and was kissing Tai's neck playfully, running his hands up and down Tai's body. Tai fought the urge to squeak.  
"But Tai...." Sora said. She sounded pouty. Tai always liked it when she pouted.  
"I'm sorry," he said, making his voice sound neutral "Now just really isn't a good time."  
"Okay. We're still on for tomorrow though?"  
"You bet," Tai said. He swallowed hard as Matt worked at removing all of his clothes.  
"Okay. See you then."  
"Bye!" Tai said. He hung up in record time then leaned down to kiss Matt hard, wriggled out of the rest of his clothes. Matt he noticed appreciatively, had already removed the cumbersome items of clothing that got in the way of Tai touching his lovely pale skin....  
* * * *  
Kari looked at Sento and Shinseru. Shinseru was having a great time with the fudge but Sento was looking morose. He was letting Shinseru do most of it. Kari looked at Davis.  
"Davis?" she murmured "When they're done with the fudge, can you take Shin off for a few minutes. Go down to buy a takeaway or something. I'd like a work with Sento."  
Davis nodded. As soon as the fudge was in the oven, he grabbed Shinseru and they went out. Kari sat Sento down on the sofa.  
"What's up?" she asked.  
Sento paused.  
"I don't think Daddy loves me," he mumbled eventually.  
"Why?" Kari asked gently.  
"He's always trying to get rid of me," Sento said "He loves his girlfriends and boyfriends more than me."  
"That's not true," Kari said "Your Daddy loves you more than anything. It's just...."  
She paused. Boyfriends? Did Sento actually mean....  
"He does," Sento said stubbornly "He'd rather have all of them than me."  
Kari shook off her thought.  
"No Sento," she said "That's not it at all. Your Daddy just likes people that's all. I'm know that he loves you."  
"Then why does he keep getting rid of me?" Sento asked "He likes spending time with Mr Ishida more than me." "Matt's his friend," Kari said.  
"Matt's his boyfriend," Sento said.  
Kari blinked.  
"No silly," she said "Matt's married to Sora, remember? He's not your father's boyfriend."  
"He is," Sento said obstinately "He and Daddy are nearly always together. And they kiss."  
Kari blinked at him. Sento continued.  
"Daddy doesn't know that I know that they do," he said "But they do it all the time. I've seen them."  
"We're back!" Davis carolled cheerfully "Fish and chips all round!"  
Sento's face brightened a bit and he sprang up to greet them. Kari sat still, blinking.  
"Huh," she said.  
* * * *  
When Tai went to pick up Sento, he was puzzled by the look Kari gave him. It was a pretty unfriendly one.  
"I'll see you on Saturday," she said "Davis is going to take the boys shopping."  
"Uncle Davis says that we'll buy this new computer game and play it!" Sento said happily "I bet I beat Shinseru hollow!"  
"Shinseru is younger than you," Tai said "Okay, Kari. See you then."  
He drove a happy Sento back and tucked him into bed. Then he went to his own room and lay on the bed (with nice clean sheets).   
This was getting out of hand. Sora had phoned him. If either of them had heard the other's voice.....  
Tai groaned. He had to give one of them up. But which one? And how?  
* * * *  
The week passed pretty quickly. Tai had Sora over twice for 'therapy' as he put it. She went away much happier. Matt phoned but didn't come over. He thanked Tai quietly for a great night and Tai invited him over for the next Monday. Then it was Saturday.   
Tai had decided. He was going to ask Kari for help. She wouldn't tell Sora or Matt and he really needed some help with this situation. Davis, Shinseru and Sento left and he sat on the sofa.  
"Kari," he said "There's something I need to tell you."  
"Oh really?"  
He looked at her. She was standing up, tapping one foot.  
"Yes," Tai said nervously "Well, there's a few things. I'm....I'm bisexual."  
"Bisexual?" Kari said.  
Tai nodded.  
"Uh huh. I always have been. I've just never told anybody about the guys," he said "On the phone line, I talk to women and men."  
"Right," Kari said "So you've been having lots of sex with both parties."  
"Well yes," Tai said.  
"I see."  
"And then there's....well, I've got this problem," Tai said "See, a while ago, Sora came over."  
"Sora?"  
"Uh huh. And she was really upset 'cause she and Matt weren't getting along so good..."  
"So well."  
"Huh?"  
"It's not getting along so good, it's getting along so well," Kari said.  
"Geez, stop acting teacher. It's Saturday!" Tai said.  
"Go on," Kari said, not smiling.  
"Well, I was trying to comfort her and we sort of ended up....well, screwing," Tai said.  
Kari nodded. Her face was expressionless.  
"And then...well a few days later, Matt came over," Tai said, swallowing miserably "And I'm not quite sure how I did it but somehow I ended up kissing him and we ended up screwing. And then I've kinda carried on screwing them both and so that's it."  
"So you're sleeping with Sora," Kari said.  
"Yes."  
"And you're sleeping with Matt?"  
"Yes."  
Kari started yelling. Tai shrank down and tried to hide behind the sofa cushions as she screamed at him. He suddenly could really see the 'teacher Kari' and he didn't want her to ever be his teacher again. Kari's yells finally died down and she relaxed. She looked down at Tai coldly, then sat down on a chair. Tai gulped.  
"Can I talk now?"  
"No!" Kari snapped "Tai, you have to break up with them!"  
"But...."  
"No! No buts! You have to! At least break up with them until you know which one you want! If you carry on this way, you'll lose both of them!"  
"But I can't!" Tai said "I can't break up with them!"  
"Why not? And 'because they are good in bed' is NOT a valid reason," Kari said.  
"Because...because....well, I don't know," Tai said "But I can't! I mean, Sora really likes me and Matt loves me..."  
"Matt loves you?"  
"Uh huh. He told me. He said."  
Kari groaned.  
"Taichi Yagami," she said "Have I ever told you that I could seriously STRANGLE you?"  
"No," Tai said.  
Kari hissed between her teeth.  
"Tai," she said "They will find out."  
"I know," Tai said "Sora phoned the other night when I was in bed with Matt. I nearly had a heart attack."  
Kari sighed.  
"You know that they will both kill you," she said.  
Tai nodded miserably.  
"But I don't know which one I want!" he said "I mean, they are both just...."  
Kari held up her hand.  
"Details. Spare me," she said "Do you love either of them?"  
"I don't know," Tai said "I mean...."  
"What do you feel when you are with them?" Kari asked.  
"Well with Sora, it's nice," Tai said "She likes me and she's pretty and she's soft and she likes to make me happy and I like to make her happy too...."  
"Okay," Kari said.  
"And Matt...." Tai paused, trying to describe it "It's....he.....Well, he needs me."  
"Needs you?" Kari asked. She was beginning to feel very much out of her depth.  
"I can't explain it better," Tai said "But he's there, it's like all the lights just dim and we're the only people in the whole world and he needs me more than anything."  
Kari sighed.  
"Tai?"  
"Yes?"  
"BREAK UP WITH THEM BOTH!"  
"But..."  
"Tai, this has to stop! Don't you get it? Sento knows Tai!"  
"What?" Tai gasped.  
"Sento thinks you don't love him because you keep sending him out for whatever sordid affairs you've been having!" Kari said angrily "He's seen you and Matt kissing Tai! God knows whatever else he's seen! For God's sake, grow up!"  
What Tai would have said next was unknown because Davis opened the door cheerfully pushing the two boys.  
"Hey everybody!" he yelled.  
"I won! I won!" Sento was shouting "I'm the champion! I'm the leader! I rule!"  
Tai laughed.  
"Congratulations kid!" he said "Now, hop off and grab your stuff and we'll go."  
The two boys dived into Shinseru's room. Davis looked questioningly at Kari and Tai.  
"Tai's been sleeping with both Sora and Matt," Kari said, her voice still shaky with anger "And he doesn't know how to break up with."  
Davis seemed to take this in his stride.  
"Then there's only one thing for it," he said.  
"What?" Tai asked.  
"Threesome," Davis said.  
Tai looked confused. Then a dreamy expression slid across his face as he pictured the scene of him, Matt and Sora. Kari began turning a slightly strange purple colour.  
"Taichi Yagami!"  
"Huh?"  
Tai blinked at her. Then he shook his head.  
"Sorry. I'm back," he said.  
"Thank you," Kari said "Remember what I said. Break up with both of them."  
Sento skipped out of the room.  
"Okay Daddy!" he said.  
Tai picked him up.  
"Come on honey," he said "You wanna come shopping? We can buy lots of junk food...."  
Sento cheered. Tai waved to Kari and Davis and they went out. Kari turned and decked Davis over the head.  
"OW! What was that for?"  
"Threesome? That's your best advice? Threesome?"  
"Well it's what I'd do if it was....OW!"  
Shinseru giggled as he watched his mother whacking his father round the head. It was always funny when they did that.  
* * * *  
Tai looked at the phone.  
It was two weeks since he'd talked to Kari. Since then, he'd been trying to get up the courage to dump Sora and Matt. He'd also been making an effort to spend more time with Sento. That was the easy part. But breaking up with either Matt or Sora....well, that wasn't easy. Matt loved him. He'd actually said that he loved Tai. He'd said it again but Tai had managed to avoid answering it. He couldn't say it, not while he was sleeping with Sora as well as Matt.   
Sora.....Well, Tai thought she loved him. It was the impression he got. And he didn't know what to do.  
The phone rang as he stared at it. Tai jumped. Then he answered, mentally swearing that if it was his boss asking him to do another shift he was going to do something drastic.  
It wasn't.  
"Hey Tai."  
It was Sora.  
"Oh hi Sora," Tai said cheerfully "What up?"  
"A lot," Sora said. She sounded shaky, like she'd been crying "Tai, we have a problem."  
"A problem?" Tai repeated slowly "What? Has someone found out?"  
"No," Sora said "But Tai....I'm pregnant."  
Tai said nothing. He sat, staring at the wall, his mouth partly open in absolute shock  
"Huh," he said.  
  
End of Part 1  
  
  
  



	2. Taichi?

Tangled Web  
"Taichi?"  
By Starrysapphire, Taito Empress  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or the Digicharacters. No kidding.  
It's TAITO, TAIORA and SORATO.   
  
Kari glared at the phone. It was midnight, she was trying to sleep and it was ringing. Loudly.  
"Davis...."  
"I'm asleep," her husband said.  
"You are not!"  
"I talk very sensibly in my sleep."  
Kari scowled and grabbed the phone.  
"Hello?"  
"Kari?"  
It was Tai. He sounded awful.  
"Tai?" Kari said, instantly wide awake "What's wrong?"  
"Sora's pregnant," Tai said "She's pregnant and she doesn't know who's the baby is!"  
Kari blinked.  
"Shit."  
* * * *  
Sora grimaced. She knew she was going to have to tell Matt sooner or later that she was pregnant. She just wasn't sure how. What if the baby was Tai's? What if the baby looked like Tai? Sento was practically the spitting image of Tai, what if this baby was like that? Couldn't she just get an abortion?  
No. She knew that she couldn't. She didn't believe in abortion unless there were mitigating circumstances and these were not mitigating, or at least, not mitigating enough..  
She was just going to have to tell Matt and hope for the best.  
"Matt? Honey?"  
Matt blinked. He'd been off in his own little world again. Sora swallowed.  
"I've got some good news," she said.  
Matt looked at her.  
"Yes?"  
"I'm pregnant," Sora said "I'm going to have another baby. Isn't it wonderful?"  
Matt stared at her. His face lit up.  
"Really?" he said, his voice going high with excitement "You're going to have a baby? Really?"  
Sora nodded, unable to stop herself smiling as she saw her husbands face light up.  
"That's....that's....that's great!" he said "That's brilliant Sora! Oh my God!"  
He leapt up and grabbed her and twirled her round the room. Sora laughed.  
"Easy Matt, easy!" she said.  
Matt let her sit down again but continued excitedly skipping up and down.  
"We'll have to tell the boys," he said "And TK. TK'll be so thrilled! And we'll have to think of names and everything!"  
Sora felt a pang of guilt. She couldn't help praying that the baby was Matt's. She didn't even want to think about what might happen if it looked like Tai. She made herself keep smiling as she watched Matt chatter on about babies.   
Where had things gone wrong in their marriage? It had all seemed so good at first. They'd married straight out of school and Sora had got pregnant with Tanoshii very quickly. After Tanoshii there'd been a two year gap before Shinji. They'd been so happy then. True, Matt had had his down moments but he'd always gone though swings of depression and it wasn't a surprise at all. But some time ago now, things had suddenly gone downhill. Matt had started spending more and more time at the office. Sora had tried to tell him that he was turning into his father but Matt didn't seem to care. When he was home, he didn't seem to have time for her anymore. He played and talked to the kids but rarely with her. And they'd stopped sleeping together. Sora knew that sex wasn't the most important thing in a marriage but she needed certain things to keep her happy. And she wasn't getting them. She'd put up with it for ages until she'd gone to Tai for comfort and reassurance. She hadn't meant to sleep with him. She really hadn't. But they'd kissed and then she'd remembered how much she'd used to like him and it had been ages....  
And things had improved between her and Matt once she'd started her affair. They'd even started to sleep together again. Rarely but they did. Which was why she could even claim that the baby might be Matt's.  
'Please let it be Matt's, please, please, please....'  
"Hey Sora?"  
Sora blinked. Matt was smiling at her.  
"You zoned out," he said "Tired already?"  
Sora smiled.  
"Maybe a little," she said "I'm expecting pampering!"  
Matt laughed. He patted her stomach gently.  
"Which do you want it to be?" he asked "In a way, it would be nice to have a little girl but she might get left out with Tanoshii and Shinji."  
"Oh I don't know," Sora said "I think I'd like a little girl."  
Matt smiled.  
"I'll just be happy as long as it's healthy," he said "I don't really care."  
Sora smiled. God, she wanted this baby to be Matt's. The man was just destined for hundreds of kids.  
'Please let it be Matt's....'  
* * * *  
Kari knocked at the Ishida family door. Sora answered it. She smiled faintly when she saw Kari.  
"He's told you hasn't he?" she said.  
Kari nodded "Is Matt here?"  
"He's taken Tanoshii and Shinji out to play football. You'd better come in."  
The two women sat on the sofa together. Sora sighed.  
"I know what you must think of me," she said "I didn't mean to hurt Matt."  
Kari swallowed. God, she didn't even want to think about what Sora would say if she ever found out about Matt and Tai.   
"It was just so complicated," Sora was saying "Matt just wasn't showing any affection! It was like he didn't even love me! I had to find some comfort somewhere..."  
Kari put an arm round Sora who was actually crying by this time.  
"It's okay Sora," she said "Don't cry. You've got to stay relaxed remember? For the new baby."  
Sora nodded.  
"Matt's just so excited," she said "I never realised how much he wanted loads of kids before. I dread to think of what might happen if it's not his."  
"It might be his," Kari said.  
Sora snorted.  
"We're barely slept together for months," she said "There's just a tiny possibility that it's his. A minute one. But it's almost certainly Tai's."  
Kari sighed.   
"Oh dear," she said softly.  
Sora nodded.  
"Oh dear," she agreed sadly.  
* * * *  
The nine months of Sora's pregnancy passed very quickly, almost too quickly for both Sora and Tai who were dreading the baby's birth. It couldn't pass too quickly for Matt who was looking forward to being a father again more than anything. He was at work when Sora rang him.  
"Matt?" she said "It's time."  
That was all that was needed. Matt got himself home very fast and drove her to hospital. He phoned Tai from there. Tai's bedroom phoneline was engaged, meaning that he was probably working. Matt phoned Tai's emergency mobile instead and waited.  
* * * *  
Tai felt his emergency mobile vibrate gently and considered ignoring it. He wasn't supposed to stop working after all and this girl sounded so totally hot....  
He looked at the screen. Matt's number.  
It could only mean one thing....  
Tai finished the call slightly quickly than he normally would have (but the woman seemed satisfied) and then answered.  
"Matt! Is it....?"  
"Yes. Can you pick the boys up from school today like we arranged?"  
"Yes. Phone me when it's born!"  
"I promise Tai. Love you."  
Tai swallowed. He hated it when Matt said that. He could never reply. For one thing, he wasn't sure if he did love Matt. For another, he couldn't say that while he was sleeping with Matt's wife.  
"Yeah," he said simply.  
He put the phone down and hugged his knees to his chin. He didn't know what to do. What if the baby was his? What if the baby looked like him? What would Matt do?  
Then his work phone rang. Pushing away all thoughts, Tai answered it. It was his boss, asking him to take another call. Tai agreed, pushing all thoughts of Sora, Matt and the baby out of his head.  
* * * *  
"One last push," the midwife said encouraging "That's it....it's nearly out!"  
Matt squeezed Sora's hand gently. She winced in pain. Matt was sure that Tanoshii and Shinji hadn't taken so long to be born. It had been a long hard labour.  
"And it's out!" the midwife said. A indignant wail filled the room "It's a little girl!"  
Sora smiled faintly at Matt as the baby was wrapped in a blanket and handed to them.  
"Oh she's beautiful," Matt said "Hello."  
The little girl continued to bawl magnificently. Sora looked at her. She uneasily noted that the baby had a considerable amount of hair. She pushed the thought away and hoped that Matt wouldn't notice. He didn't look like he would. He was looking completely besotted with the child. He gently stroked her face.  
"Isn't she lovely?" he said.  
Sora nodded.  
"What are we going to call her?" she asked.  
Matt looked at his watch.  
"It's midnight," he said "So let's call her Sayo."  
"Sayo Ishida," Sora repeated "I like it. Hello Sayo."  
Sayo stopped crying.  
"She likes it!" Matt said with a laugh "I'd better go and phone Tai. I promised after all and the boys'll be up worrying!"  
He went out. Sora carefully examined Sayo.  
She did look a lot like Tai.  
"Oh dear," Sora murmured softly.  
* * * *  
Tai practically threw himself at the phone when it rang.  
"Matt?"  
"Hey Tai."  
"Well?" Tai demanded. Tanoshii, Shinji and Sento were hovering nearby.  
"She's a beautiful girl," Matt said "Her name's Sayo and she's gorgeous."  
"Oh that's great!" Tai said "Is Sora okay?"  
"Yes, Sora's fine. We're all fine," Matt said. He sounded giddy with exhaustion and excitement "Are the boys okay?"  
"Tired and over-excited," Tai said "They'll be glad to hear the news."  
"Can I tell them?"  
"Sure," Tai said with a laugh "Here."  
He held out the phone to Tanoshii who grabbed it.  
"Daddy?"  
Tai watched. Tanoshii grinned.  
"That's cool!" he said happily "Is she pretty? Uh huh....uh huh.....uh huh. Yeah, okay. I will."  
He handed the phone to Shinji. He looked at Tai.  
"I've got a little sister!" he said proudly.  
Tai laughed and picked him up. He waited until Shinji had finished before lifting him up too. Sento had grabbed the phone to hear about the baby as well. He put it down and held out his arms expectantly.  
"I can't fit you all it!" Tai laughed, kneeling down so he could cram them all into his arms "Congratulations kids!"  
"We've got a sister, we've got a sister!" Tanoshii was chanting. Shinji was just laughing. Sento was giggling too.  
"Can I have a sister?" he asked his father.  
Tai felt like someone had poured cold water down his spine. It was quite possible that Sento already had a little sister.  
Before he could answer his son, Tanoshii piped up.  
"You can share Sayo," he said "We don't mind, do we Shinji?"  
"No!" Shinji said cheerfully "We'll all share her!"  
Tai laughed.  
"Bed," he announced "All of you. Come on."  
He tucked them all into bed and made them promise to go to sleep before going to bed himself. He could only pray that Sayo was Matt's.  
* * * *  
After school, Tai took all three kids to see Sora and Sayo. Matt was waiting. He hugged Tanoshii and Shinji and then hugged Tai. Tai hugged him back, breathing in the smell of Matt's hair, feeling Matt's warm body pressed against his...  
'Okay, here is not the place for that....'  
Tai drew away.  
"Well," he said "Let's see her then."   
Matt led them all to Sora's room. She was holding a small bundle in her arms. Tanoshii and Shinji leapt up onto the bed, one on each side and peered at the bundle. Tai came over too. He felt his stomach drop.  
Sayo was almost the spitting image of what Sento had looked like as a baby. There was absolutely no doubt that she was his baby.  
"She's very small," Sento said doubtfully from beside him "She won't be very interesting."  
"Oh she'll soon grow," Tai said quietly "You'd be surprised."  
Sora glanced at him. She smiled but there was no real happiness in there.  
"You like her?" she said.  
"Oh yes," Tai said "She's a lovely little girl Sora. Well done."  
"Hey, where's my credit?" Matt laughed, sitting on the bed.  
"You don't get any," Tai said.  
Matt laughed again. Only Sora knew that Tai hadn't been joking.  
* * * *  
Matt frowned. Beside him, Sora was fast asleep. But Matt couldn't sleep.  
He wasn't sure what was bothering him. But he knew something was.  
Sayo was six months old now and a beautiful little girl. Matt adored her. But there was something about her that made him blink whenever he looked at her. She was familiar but she didn't look anything like Tanoshii or Shinji had looked when they were babies. It was strange because both of the boys had looked so much like them right from the start. Tanoshii looked like him, Shinji looked like Sora. He assumed that Sayo was a mixture of him and Sora. Only he couldn't really see himself in there. Sayo had dark hair and dark eyes. Matt wasn't entirely sure where they'd come from. She was a beautiful baby but sometimes she didn't look like him at all. And there was just something there which made him look twice....   
He heard Sayo start to cry and quickly scrambled up, deciding to let Sora sleep. He went over, changed her and sat there gently, rocking Sayo to and fro. Her cries stopped and she lay peaceably. Matt blinked drowsily. He was tired and his eyes kept drooping shut. He heard Sayo coo slightly and knew she was dozing off. Her little dark eyes drooped shut.  
"Night Sento," he mumbled.  
Then he blinked.   
"Huh?"  
Sento? Where had Sento come from? Sento was Tai's son! And Sayo didn't....  
Matt stared at Sayo. She did look oddly like....  
But that would mean....and it couldn't possibly be.....Tai would never....  
Matt felt a strange feeling gathering in his stomach. He had to be imagining things. Sayo didn't really look anything Sento had at that age, surely? And he hadn't seen little Sento that often anyway.....  
But still...  
Matt carefully put Sayo down in her cot and went back to bed. He lay awake, feeling uneasy. Surely this was impossible....  
But he couldn't help being frightened.  
* * * *  
Some days later, Matt went over to Tai's. He needed a break from Sora. She was getting to the stage where she thought there was something wrong again. Matt found it difficult to focus on his worries when he was with Tai. Tai was always so good at soothing his fears about anything and not leaving any room for thought.  
But afterwards his niggling fear returned.  
Matt waited until Tai had gone to shower, then went under the bed where he knew that Tai kept his baby photos of Sento. He pulled them out and searched though until he found one taken of Sento when he was about six months. He looked at the photo silently.  
"Hey."  
Matt turned and looked at Tai who was grinning at him.  
"I don't see why you need those," Tai said with a laugh "You've got the real thing at home!"  
Matt stood up, the photo clutched in his hand.  
"What's wrong?" Tai asked, seeing that his friend was a funny colour and he was shaking.   
"Tai," Matt said, his voice stiff "This picture...."  
"Yeah?" Tai said. He walked over in case Matt was going to faint. He'd never seen Matt look so strange before.  
"It looks like Sayo," Matt said.  
He caught the look of apprehension that flickered over Tai's face.  
"Most babies look alike," he said, his voice sounding neutral. Almost too neutral.  
Matt shook his head.  
"They're practically identical," he said slowly.  
Tai said nothing this time. Matt could see the fear in his eyes.  
"What's been going on?" he asked.  
He waited. Tai was silent.   
'Oh please God no....'  
"Tai?" Matt said, his voice rising shrilly "Taichi? What have you done?"  
Tai bowed his head.  
"Matt I'm so sorry," he said "I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to, I really didn't mean to, it just happened..."  
"You've been sleeping....with.....Sora?" Matt croaked.  
Tai nodded, still keeping his head down.  
"How long?" Matt asked. His voice sounded strained.  
"Matt...."  
"HOW LONG?"  
Tai flinched.  
"Since just before you and I...." his voice trailed off.  
Matt stared at him.  
"You've been sleeping with Sora and me at the same time?" he said softly.  
Tai nodded.  
"I didn't mean..."  
Matt interrupted him.  
"You....you.....you filthy, no-good BASTARD!" he shouted. Reaching out, he punched Tai as hard as he could, sending Tai sprawling "All this time! All this time!"  
"Matt I...."  
"I said I loved you!" Matt cried, horrified to find tears running down his face "I told you that I loved you and you were doing that! No wonder you never said it back! No wonder you always changed the conversation! You bastard, you bastard! I loved you!"  
"Matt, I'm sorry!" Tai cried. He scrambled to his feet, reaching out for Matt "I just didn't know who to chose! I didn't know what to do! I didn't mean to...."  
Matt punched him again. Tai sat down again, staring up at Matt.  
"So you couldn't chose?" Matt said bitterly "Well here's your choice. You're dumped."  
He turned and left the apartment leaving Tai sitting, staring after him, his eyes filled with shock.  
* * * *  
Sora came back from collecting the boys from school to find Matt at the kitchen table.  
"I thought you'd be working later than this!" she said, slightly surprised.  
"Yeah," Matt said. He bent down and hugged Tanoshii and Shinji.  
"Can you two do me a favour?" he said "Run along into your room? I need to talk with Mummy."  
The two boys agreed and ran off. Sora looked questioningly at Matt.  
"What's up?" she said "You haven't lost your job have you?"  
"No," Matt said.  
"Then what's wrong?"  
Matt looked at her. Sora gasped. His eyes were icy cold.  
"You," he said flatly "I know Sora. I know about you and Taichi."  
He spat the name like a swearword. Sora drew back.  
"I know that Sayo isn't mine," Matt continued savagely "I know that really she's Sayo Yagami. That it should be Taichi's name on that birth certificate."  
Sora swallowed. Oh crap.  
"Matt," she said "Oh God Matt..."  
"Don't," Matt said "Just don't."  
Sora stared at him. She could feel her eyes filling with tears. What had she done?  
"I've packed my bags," Matt said coldly "I'm leaving. I just thought that I'd better tell you face to face. And I have to say goodbye to the boys."  
"Matt," Sora said "Matt, please don't. Please reconsider this. I don't want to split up, I love you...."  
Matt gave a harsh laugh.  
"You love me? Really Sora?" he said "Strange way of showing it. But it doesn't matter. Because I don't love you. I don't think I ever did."  
He stood up and walked into their room. He came out carrying his bags. He dumped them by the door. Sora stood watching, her face pale with horror.  
"Boys!" Matt called.  
The boys came out of their room, looking a bit surprised to be summoned so soon. Matt knelt down.  
"I know this is going to be a bit confusing and upsetting," he said gently "But I'm going away. I...I won't be coming back."  
The boys stared at him.  
"You're going away?" Shinji said, sounding puzzled "Can't we come too?"  
"No," Matt said softly "I'm sorry. You two have to stay with your mother and sister."  
His voice cracked when he said the word sister. Sora felt a horrified tear drop from her eye.  
"Why are you leaving?" Tanoshii asked.  
"That's a difficult thing to explain," Matt said "I just....I have to go. I need space. It's nothing to do with you. I still love you, love you more than anything. I'll write and phone though. Don't worry, I won't forget you."  
"Where are you going?" Shinji said in a small voice.  
"A friend's," Matt said "Now, you two be good for your mother, okay? Make sure you help her with Sayo."  
He stood up and looked at Sora.  
"I'll send you the divorce papers," he said expressionlessly "I hope you and Taichi are happy together."  
Sora could feel more horrified tears trickling from her eyes. She stared at Matt. He hugged the boys one last time. Tanoshii began to cry.  
"Aren't you going to say goodbye to Sayo?" Shinji asked innocently. He didn't really understand.  
Matt paused for a moment. Then he went over to Sayo who was still in the pushchair.  
"Bye sweetie," he whispered "I'll miss you, even if..."  
His voice broke off. Then he stood up and picked up his bags. Sora wrapped her arms round the boys. Shinji was looking puzzled.  
"Daddy, don't go!" Tanoshii cried.  
"I'm sorry," Matt whispered "I'm very sorry."  
Then he walked out of the door, leaving his family behind him.  
* * * *  
When Tai's phone rang, he snatched it up.  
"Hello?"  
"Taichi."  
It was Matt.  
"Matt!" Tai said "Thank God! I..."  
"Shut up."  
Tai shut up.  
"I haven't told Sora. About us."  
Tai remained silent, not sure what to say.  
"She thinks that you were only fucking her. Not me too."  
"Matt...." Tai began.  
"Shut up," Matt said again "I'm leaving Taichi. I'll be sending Sora her divorce papers. You can continue to see her or not as you wish. But really it's not my concern. But you may want to help her with your daughter. I know Sento wanted a sister. Well now he has one."  
"Matt please," Tai whispered "Please don't. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. Matt I...."  
"Goodbye Taichi."  
There was a click and the phone went dead. Tai stared at it, his chocolatey eyes filling with tears.  
"No...."  
But he knew that it was too late. Sinking down onto his bed, Tai began to sob bitterly consumed with misery and guilt.  
  
End of part 2.  
Aw, aren't I mean? I'm going to leave it up to you to decide who gets with who in the end so lets have an opinion poll. Say in your reviews if you want it to end as a Taito, a Taiora or a Sorato (it may look hopeless but it's probably mendable). Or even if you think I should set them up with somebody else! I want to know! (besides, if not enough people vote, I'll just set up my preferred couple!) So get voting!  
  



	3. Family Troubles

Tangled Web  
Family Troubles  
By Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or anybody in it.  
This is TAITO, TAIORA and SORATO which you should already know. There's also sort of some DAIKEN but not much and not exactly.  
Well, Taito seems to be the majority vote! In fact it was all Taito apart from one Taiora and one (you strange person!) Yamashiro! However, you can still vote if you want! I'm good at turning things that look like certainties round and making them different! Although Sorato is pretty much down the plug-hole. Thanks to Libek for her lovely review which I had a great time reading!  
  
TK blinked awake confused. Someone was knocking on his door. Crawling out of bed, not wanting to disturb his wife and son, he opened it.   
Matt was standing on the doorstep. His face was streaked with tears and he was clutching some bags.  
"Matt!" TK said "Matt, whatever's wrong?"  
"Oh TK," Matt said, his voice shaking "It's just awful."  
Then he started to cry again. TK quickly pulled his brother inside, wondering what could have happened to put his brother in such a state.  
* * * *  
Davis sat sprawled on the couch with Ken. It was the ritual boys night in they had every week. Yolei went over to Kari's and they had a girls night in. The children were on alternate nights. That week it was the girls turn. Which meant that Davis and Ken got to play their favourite game.  
Davis couldn't help wondering about their favourite game. It seemed a little unusual to him when he thought about it. But he enjoyed it. It involved describing different sexual fantasies to each other in as much detail as possible. For some reason, the more erotic ones seemed to involve other men. The even more erotic ones seemed to involve men they knew.   
Davis took another gulp of beer. Ken had just finished one which involved Matt and liberal doses of whipped cream.  
"S'just a shame he's married," he remarked.  
"Don't see why that should stop you," Davis said with a slight snicker, thinking about what Tai had told Kari.  
"'Cause he's married to Sora you dope," Ken said "Hey! That'd be even better. Matt and Sora at the same time! With the whipped cream...."  
Davis thought about it.  
"Yeah," he said "God, I wish I was Tai."  
Ken blinked.  
"Huh?"  
Davis's brain caught up with his mouth at that point. He gulped.  
"Oops."  
* * * *  
Yolei looked at Ken. He was lying on the bed looking a bit worried.  
"Ken?" she said "What's wrong?"  
Ken looked at her.  
"Something Davis said," he said "I'm not sure if I should tell you actually."  
"If it's bothering you, you should get it off your chest," Yolei said, sitting down next to him.  
Ken looked at her.  
"Well," he said slowly "Davis said Matt and Sora have been cheating on each other."  
Yolei gasped.  
"No!"  
"Both of them," Ken said "With Tai."  
Yolei frowned.  
"You mean they've both been sleeping with Tai!" she said.  
Ken nodded.  
"Not at the same time," he said hastily "At different times."  
"That's even worse!" Yolei said "They don't know about it?"  
"Well as far as I know, no," Ken said "That's why I'm worried. Tai told Kari who told Davis."  
Yolei bit her lip. It was only fair for her to tell Sora about it. But still...  
She lay awake for most of the night worrying about it.  
* * * *  
Sora was sitting beside Sayo's cot, wide awake and mulling things over.  
Matt had gone. She was now a single mother with three children under ten, two of whom were very upset and confused. Sora ran her hands though her hair, trying to decide what to do. She wasn't alone. She knew that Tai would help her, as would Kari and the other Digidestined when they found out what had happened. And Matt would almost certainly want to see Tanoshii and Shinji...  
Sora sighed. The one thing she didn't want was a rift between her children. If Matt would only see Tanoshii and Shinji, then Sayo would grow up feeling left out. If he saw all three of them but didn't treat Sayo right then Sayo would be unhappy. That was going to be difficult.  
Sora picked up the phone and dialled Tai's number. Tai never minded being woken up in the night and this was an emergency. She needed to discuss this with him.  
* * * *  
Tai, like Sora, was sitting awake and mulling things over.  
He'd split up with Matt. He'd ripped Matt's marriage apart. Okay, so it hadn't exactly been a happy marriage. But it had been stable until he'd come along. Now there were three children who would be confused and miserable. One of whom was his baby.  
Tai groaned and ran his hands though his hair. What was he going to do? He still wanted Sora but he didn't love Sora. Not like he loved Matt.   
Why? Why did he have to suddenly realise that he was in love with Matt when it was too late? Why?  
The phone rang, ear-splittingly loud in the silence. Tai picked it up quickly.  
"Hello?"  
"Tai. It's me, Sora."  
Tai swallowed.  
"Hey," he said softly "How're you?"  
"I guess you've talked to Matt," Sora said, her voice shaky "He's....he's left us Tai. Me and the kids..."  
"I know," Tai said "He told me."  
Sora sighed. She sounded miserable.  
"What am I going to do Tai?" she asked "Tanoshii and Shinji are so upset. They don't really understand. And what's going to happen with Sayo? This isn't her fault."  
"No," Tai said quietly "It's not her fault."  
Sora sighed again and Tai flinched. He knew what he had to do but even now it was so hard...  
"Tai can you come over tomorrow? I need to talk to somebody."  
"I don't think that's a good idea," Tai said softly.  
"What?"  
Tai swallowed.  
"I'm sorry Sora," he said "I can't do this anymore."  
"What do you mean?" Sora said, her voice trembling.  
"It's got out of hand," Tai said helplessly "I'm really sorry Sora. But I just can't do this. I need....I have to stop."  
"Tai..." Sora said faintly. She sounded like she was going to cry "Tai, please don't do this. Not now. I need you Tai!"  
"I'm sorry," Tai said again "I want to still be friends and I'll help you all I can. But I don't think we should....should do anything anymore."  
He heard Sora give another sob and then the phone went dead. Tai put the phone down too and curled up on his bed. His pillows, already damp from earlier tears, were soon soaked again as he cried.  
* * * *  
Izzy was surprised the next day when Yolei phoned him. She sounded a little disturbed about something.  
"What's wrong Yolei?" Izzy asked her.  
"It's something Ken told me," Yolei explained "He was talking with Davis who told him this."  
"Well what? Spit it out," Izzy said.  
"Apparently, Sora and Matt have been cheating on each other," Yolei explained "On separate occasions, they've both been sleeping with Tai."  
"With Tai!" Izzy said "No!"  
"Yes," Yolei said "Tai told Kari and Davis who told Ken who's told me. The problem is, what should I do? Should I tell Sora? She's a very close friend of mine."  
"I don't see how she can complain if she's been cheating on Matt," Izzy said uncertainly.  
"Yes, but Tai's been cheating on her too, hasn't he?" Yolei pointed out "It's the fact that they're cheating on each other with the same person that really bothers me. I just don't know what to do."  
Izzy frowned gloomily. He still wasn't all that good with people and he didn't really know what to tell Yolei.  
"I'm not really sure," he said at last "I've never really been very good with people Yolei. I don't think I can help you."  
"That's okay," Yolei said "Thanks anyway. If you think of anything, you can let me know."  
Izzy agreed and they rang off. Izzy sat thoughtfully, trying to work out what to do. Yolei was right he supposed. But how did you tell somebody about this strange love triangle?  
* * * *  
Mujaki Takaishi sat eating his breakfast, watching his parents. Everything had been normal last night but he'd woken up in the morning to find his Uncle Matt asleep on the sofa and his mother looking slightly annoyed. At that moment she and his father were whispering together in a hissy way which meant that they were annoyed with each other but they didn't want Mujaki to hear any of it.  
Mujaki pricked up his ears to listen.  
"Takeru," Shinoko Takaishi was saying "I know that something very bad must have happened but does he have to show up on our doorstep?"  
"Well where else was he supposed to go?" TK asked.  
"I suppose so," Shinoko said with a sigh "But still....it might upset Mujaki."  
"Mujaki's a good kid. He can take it."  
"Not if his Uncle Matt's crying buckets all over the place, he can't."  
"Matt's not going to cry in front of Mujaki. I think he'd die of shame if he did for a start."  
Shinoko sighed.  
"Well....I suppose it's okay," she said "Do you know what's wrong anyway?"  
"I'm not entirely sure. Matt wasn't exactly coherent last night. Something about Sora and Tai and Sayo but I couldn't quite untangle it into anything that made sense."  
Shinoko nodded. She then glanced at her watch.  
"Oh crap!" she hissed "I'll be late. Mujaki, are you ready for school?"  
"Yes!" Mujaki called back instantly. He scrambled to his feet and smiled proudly "I'm ready!"  
Shinoko nodded. She glanced at Matt who was looking pale and restless.  
"Takeru," she said "Have a good day and look after Uncle Matt."  
She and Mujaki left. TK turned and looked at Matt. He'd known that Shinoko would understand. She was an understanding person but she worried about Mujaki. He was only five but he was already showing signs of being an extremely clever child. Shinoko's twin brother had been a genius and he'd never really been able to relate to people. He'd killed himself shortly after TK and Shinoko's wedding. TK could see why Shinoko worried and was trying to help alleviate her worries. It wasn't easy.  
With a sigh he settled down at his lap-top. Keeping one eye on Matt's sleeping form, he continued writing his latest novel.  
Somehow he felt that no novel could be quite as interesting as his life was shaping up to be at that moment.  
* * * *  
Joe was having his lunch break when his phone rang. He was slightly surprised to find Izzy on the line.  
"Hey Izzy, what's up?" he asked.  
"A lot," Izzy said without any preamble "I need some advice."  
"What about?" Joe asked.  
"Yolei called me earlier," Izzy explained "She's found out that Matt and Sora are cheating on each other."  
"No!" Joe said.  
"Yes," Izzy said "It gets worse too. They are both sleeping with Tai."  
"Both of them?" Joe said slowly.  
"Uh huh."  
"Matt and Tai are bi?" Joe said slowly "I never knew that."  
"Yeah. But that's not the point. The point is, what should we do?" Izzy asked "I mean, Yolei's not sure whether to tell Sora or not. She has a right to know I suppose but what do you say?"  
Joe paused. This was a pretty difficult question.  
"How long has this been going on for?" he asked after a moment.  
"I don't know. Quite a while?"  
"Sora's just had a baby," Joe said thoughtfully "Maybe that will help her marriage stay together."  
"Maybe," Izzy said "I guess."  
"Unless the baby isn't Matt's," Joe continued, still trying to think "If Sayo isn't Matt's then it might encourage them to split up."  
"Isn't Matt's?" Izzy repeated "That's a good point. Sayo does look like Sento did at that age..."  
There was a pause.  
"Izzy," Joe said at last "I think we don't say anything. If we say anything about this then we open a very big can of worms. I think we leave them to handle their own affairs. If Yolei wants to talk to anyone, she should talk to Tai. He's the one who's causing all the problems here."  
"Okay," Izzy agreed "Thanks Joe."  
"That's okay," Joe said.  
After ringing off he sat, still thinking for a quite a long time. He hoped he'd made the right decision. But it wasn't really his business after all. If Sora, Matt and Tai wanted to get themselves involved in complicated love triangles, that was their business, not his. He just hoped that nobody had any STD's or real problems could emerge.  
Unless of course, Sayo was Tai's baby in which case real problems had already emerged.  
Joe groaned. Why was it that the Digidestined always seemed to cause more troubles in his life than his work or his home?  
* * * *  
Sento looked at his father. His father had picked him up from school like normal but now he was just sitting at the table. He looked really strange.  
"Daddy?" Sento asked "Daddy?"  
"Huh? What?"   
His father looked vaguely at him, like he was only just noticing Sento's presence.  
"Are you sick?" Sento asked uncertainly. He'd never seen his father act this way before.  
"Sick? Me? No," Tai said "I'm fine Sento. Really."  
Sento didn't believe him. He knew that something was up. He just wasn't sure what.  
"Is it because Uncle Matt's left home?" he asked, remembering what Tanoshii had told him that day.  
His father jumped violently.  
"What? Who told you that?" he demanded.  
"Tanoshii," Sento said "He said that Uncle Matt's gone away somewhere and Auntie Sora's very upset."  
"Oh."  
His father sat down again. His eyes glazed over and he continued to stare into the distance. Irritated, Sento gave up and went to watch the TV. If his father wouldn't talk to him then he wouldn't talk to his father.  
Tai continued to stare at the wall, not really seeing it. He wanted to phone all the Digidestined and find out where Matt was but he didn't dare. It would look strange, him desperately trying to trace Matt when even Sora wasn't. Besides, the other Digidestined probably didn't even know that Matt and Sora had split up yet and Tai didn't want to upset Sora any more by telling them.   
He groaned softly and put his head on the table. How the hell had he got himself into this? What was he supposed to do now?  
Sento looked anxiously at his father then went over to the phone. He carefully flicked thought the phone book until he found Kari's number, then dialled it.  
"Hello, Motomiya residence."  
"Auntie Kari?" Sento said.  
"Sento?" Kari said "Hello."  
"I think Daddy's sick," Sento said "He won't talk to me properly and he's all upset and just staring at the wall."  
He was slightly surprised when Auntie Kari used a word that he'd always been told was very bad indeed.  
"Okay, I'll come over," she said "If I come, can you take care of Shinseru while I look after your father?"  
"Sure," Sento said, feeling slightly honoured at the prospect of taking care of Shinseru. Normally he wasn't considered old enough for that.  
"I'll see you soon," Auntie Kari said and rang off. Sento went to wait by the door, hoping she'd come soon. He didn't like to see his father like this.  
* * * *  
Tai unburied his head when someone gave him a sharp poke in the back of it.  
"OW! What....?"  
"Hello Taichi."  
He winced.  
"Oh. Um, hi Kari," he offered "Where'd you come from?"  
"Sento opened the door," Kari said "After he phoned and asked me to come over. He is now in his bedroom baby-sitting Shinseru as Davis is out with Ken again. Now. What's going on?"  
Tai sighed. He gloomily told Kari everything that had happened. Kari listened silently.  
"I did warn you," she said quietly when he'd finished.  
"I know!" Tai wailed "I know you did! But what do I do now? I want him back Kari."  
Kari sighed. She personally felt that the only reason Tai wanted Matt was because Matt was now unavailable. But she wasn't going to say that. She felt very sorry for Tai. He was beginning to cry again. Kari wrapped her arms round him and tried to soothe him, hoping that the kids couldn't hear in the next room.  
* * * *  
"Tanoshii," Shinji said "Why has Daddy gone away?"  
Tanoshii looked at his little brother. Shinji stared back with his big cinnamon coloured eyes.  
"I don't know," Tanoshii said eventually "Sometimes Daddy's leave."  
"But that's normally after fights," Shinji said "Our Mummy and Daddy never fight."  
Tanoshii shrugged.  
"Is it 'cause of Sayo?" Shinji asked.  
Tanoshii paused. He'd noticed ever since his mother had said that they were going to have a little brother or sister she'd been sad. Or something. There'd been a bad feeling around. Then after Sayo was born, it hadn't gone away. And then his father had left.  
"I don't know. Maybe," Tanoshii said at last.  
Shinji sniffed.  
"Can't we get rid of Sayo and have Daddy back?" he suggested "I want Daddy."  
Tanoshii nodded his agreement. The two boys both sat quietly, thinking.  
* * * *  
"Takeru?"  
TK blinked and looked up from his lap-top. Shinoko was holding the phone out to him.  
"It's Motomiya Kari," she said.  
"Thanks," TK said, taking the phone "Kari?"  
"Hey TK," Kari said. She sounded tired "Is Matt at your place?"  
TK considered. Matt hadn't said to keep his presence a secret but Kari....  
"I won't tell Tai," Kari said.  
"Yes," TK said.  
"Good," Kari said "So I'm assuming that he's told you the whole sorry story?"  
"Yes," TK said "Sorry about this Kari but your brother's a major jerk."  
"Can't really argue but on behalf of the family 'Hey!'" Kari said "So how is Matt?"  
"He arrived last night in tears, slept most of the day and woke up before Mujaki got back from school to tell me what happened," TK said.  
"I guess he's taken it really badly?"   
"I've never seen him this bad," TK said "Never in my life. Not even when Mum and Dad split up."  
Kari sighed.  
"I've just got back from Tai's," she said "He's in an awful state as well. I don't know about Sora."  
"Does anyone else know about this?" TK asked.  
"Davis," Kari said "I don't think anybody else even knows that they've split yet."  
"Well Matt hasn't told anybody except me anything," TK said.  
"Right," Kari said "We'd better wait and see what happens."  
"Uh huh," TK agreed.  
* * * *  
Matt lay on TK's sofa, staring at the ceiling. The apartment was quiet now, everyone in bed, asleep. But Matt couldn't sleep.  
What was he going to do? He couldn't stay on TK's sofa forever. But he didn't have anywhere else to go. And even if he did, he'd be all alone. He didn't have anybody now. Only TK. He'd lost Tai and Sora and his kids. He didn't have anything else.  
Matt struggled with the tears that were threatening to run down his face. Why had Tai done this to him? He loved Tai, he loved him. Why had Tai hurt him like this?  
"Uncle Matt?"  
Matt looked over, startled. Mujaki was staring at him quietly.  
"Mujaki," Matt said "You should be asleep."  
"I was thirsty," Mujaki said "Why aren't you asleep?"  
"I can't sleep," Matt said "I find it difficult sometimes."  
"Why aren't you still with Auntie Sora?"  
Matt paused.  
"Auntie Sora and I got angry with each other," he said after a moment "We couldn't stay together anymore."  
"Won't you ever go back?"  
"No."  
"Won't Tanoshii and Shinji miss you?"  
"I'll still see them," Matt said "Just....just not living with them is all. Here, I'll get you a drink and you can go back to bed."  
Mujaki drank the water his uncle gave him thinking. If his Uncle Matt had left Auntie Sora just because they were angry....hadn't his parents been angry that morning? Did that mean that they were going to move out?  
Mujaki went back to bed thinking.   
* * * *  
Sora sighed and sat down at the kitchen table, running her fingers though her hair.  
One month. That's all it had taken. One month for her life to fall apart.  
First Matt had left her. Then Tai had left her. And now her children were playing up.  
Well, she couldn't blame them. They were only eight and six. Of course they wouldn't really understand what had happened to their father. And of course, Sora couldn't tell them.  
But she desperately wanted them to behave. She wasn't sure she could cope.  
She'd managed to get them into a reasonable routine. She'd decided that the boys were old enough to walk to school together. After all, Tanoshii was nearly nine. She always made their packed lunches before school and always made sure that they had everything before leaving. Then she tried to sort everything else out before they got back, including looking after Sayo.  
But the boys missed their father. He'd phoned once or twice and sent letters. But he'd done nothing more substantial than that. He wouldn't even speak to Sora. TK was always the one who phoned and Matt took over once the boys were on.   
If it hadn't been for her friends, Sora would have gone crazy. Although they were all careful not to pick sides, everyone had been trying to help. Yolei offered to do baby-sitting and Mimi said friendly E-mails of encouragement. Joe came over to talk to Sora a lot. Sora appreciated this. Joe was a good listener and he was good at keeping secrets. She could pour everything out to him without fear of him telling everyone. He normally just sat quietly and let her moan, something that most people could never do. But he still couldn't help her with her main problem. Which was that Tanoshii and Shinji were beginning to misbehave in school and at home. Neither of them would help with Sayo anymore, something that Sora had feared would happen. The boys were blaming their sister for separating their parents.  
"What the hell am I going to do?" Sora whispered to herself.  
But she didn't have an answer.  
* * * *   
Sento sat down on the wall next to Tanoshii. Tanoshii was frowning and picking at his packed lunch.  
"Hello," Sento said.  
Tanoshii gave him a small smile, then looked back at his lunch.  
"Dad always used to pack my lunch," he said sadly.  
"Dad said I had to make my own today," Sento said. He peered in at the chocolate filled lunch box "There wasn't any bread so I can't have sandwiches."  
"No bread!" Tanoshii said looking surprised.  
"Dad forgot to go shopping," Sento explained.   
"Mum always remembers the shopping," Tanoshii said. He scowled moodily "We don't get so many sweets things now because Mum says we're economising."  
"What's that?" Sento asked.  
"I don't know. Mum says that we'll be economising until she and Dad have settled on payments. I didn't understand it at all. And then the Brat started to cry and Mum had to stop."  
"I like Sayo," Sento said mildly.  
Tanoshii sniffed.  
"She hasn't made your father move out has she?" he said.  
Sento thought about it.  
"I don't expect it's really her fault," he said "Maybe your Dad just happened to move out at the same time."  
"Why else would Dad go?" Tanoshii asked.  
Sento thought about it.  
"Maybe it's because of your Dad kissing my Dad," he said.  
Tanoshii looked puzzled.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Your Dad used to come over to my house and kiss my Dad," Sento explained "Only when he left your Mum, they stopped. And my Dad's got very upset and misses it."  
Tanoshii frowned.  
"Kissing?"  
"Uh huh. They were doing it all the time," Sento said "And other things."  
Tanoshii looked curious. Sento began to explain with his limited knowledge.  
"Well, most people only have girlfriends if they're a boy and boyfriends if they are a girl," he began "But some people - like my Dad - are special and like to have both. And when you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you like to kiss them a lot and do other special things with them. They often make you scream a lot and make loud noises. And your Dad used to do those things with my Dad."  
"Oh," Tanoshii said, still looking slightly confused. Sento shrugged. He couldn't help it if Tanoshii didn't understand. He was used to his father kissing other lots of different people. He'd always been doing it, right from when he'd left his mother. He knew that his father often got rid of him specially to be with them. Auntie Kari said that it didn't mean that his father didn't love him but Sento wasn't so sure. Now his father had lost Uncle Matt, he seemed miserable. Sento was always with Uncle Davis while Auntie Kari took care of his father. Sento sighed. If he left, his father probably wouldn't even notice.  
Tanoshii was frowning to himself. His father used to kiss Mr Yagami? He'd never seen them do that. He'd never seen a man kiss another man. Were men allowed to do that? And he'd never head his father scream. It was strange and Tanoshii didn't like it at all. What did Sento mean? And was that why his father had gone away?  
Tanoshii spent the rest of the day deep in his own little world. This wasn't especially different than usual since his parents had split up and the teachers mostly left him be. Tanoshii barely noticed. He was still trying to untie the knots in his head.  
* * * *  
Kari opened the door to find TK standing there. This wasn't unexpected as she'd invited him over.  
"Hey TK," she said, giving him a hug "How're you doing?"  
TK sighed. He came in and they sat on the sofa.  
"Not so good," TK admitted "Matt's.....Matt's pretty bad. And Shinoko doesn't really appreciated him being at our place. She thinks he's upsetting Mujaki and of course it's not so private with him around. We're not exactly arguing about it but...." his voice trailed off and he shook his head "I can see her point but I can't just turf him out. Matt really needs my support right now."  
Kari nodded.  
"My main problem is Sento," she admitted "Tai's moping about so much that he's neglecting him. The poor kid's miserable. He's been thinking for a while that his father likes his boyfriends and girlfriends better than him and this really isn't helping."  
"Have you talked to Tai about it?"  
Kari shook her head.  
"I can't," she said "Tai's so unhappy. At least he gets to pour out his problems onto me. He's never been more stricken TK."  
"Do you think he loves Matt?" TK asked.  
"I don't know," Kari said gloomily "He says he does but I get the strong feeling that the fact that Matt rejected him has a lot to do with it. Tai never seems to have got over that rush of hormones that everyone suffers in their teenage years. And he is upset about having to leave Sora although quite frankly there was nothing else he could do. I've never seen him cry so much as he has for the past month."  
TK sighed.  
"Matt still loves him," he said "He's beginning to regret leaving him. He wants to see his kids but he can't bring himself to see Sora. But he's definitely regretting leaving Tai."  
"And what do you think about that?" Kari asked.  
"Well I still think your brother is a rotten git," TK said "So generally I try to put him off. But I don't know what to do Kari."  
Kari shook her head. The month had really taken it out of her. She was trying to handle her job, Shinseru and Sento and Tai all at the same time. She was also trying to lend sympathy to an unhappy Sora. It was all pretty tiring. She could see that TK felt the same way as she did. Leaning over, TK gave her a hug. Kari smiled gratefully and hugged him back.  
"Hey everybody, we're home!"  
Kari pulled back from TK.  
"Davis, why do you always have to announce your presence like that?" she asked rolling her eyes "You'll teach Shinseru that it's the right way to behave."  
"I like to announce my presence," Davis said "Hello TK."  
TK waved at him. Shinseru looked a bit shy and hid behind Davis's legs. TK tried not to laugh. Davis dropped the shopping bags on the table.  
"There it is," he said "Do we really need so much food?"  
"It's not just ours," Kari said "It's for Tai. He seems to have forgotten how to shop." She stood up "TK, will you come and help me deliver this to Tai?"  
TK nodded.  
"Sure."  
He stood up.  
"See you Davis. See you Shinseru."  
Shinseru waved. Davis said nothing. He just watched Kari and TK go, frowning slightly as they did.  
* * * *  
Another week passed, another week of stress and strain for nearly everyone. Matt was growing steadily more depressed. He'd stopped going to work and was leaning on TK more than ever. However, Shinoko was beginning to put her foot down. She felt that Matt was severely upsetting Mujaki and he was definitely upsetting her. She wanted Matt out of there. TK was feeling torn. He didn't want to upset Shinoko but he couldn't just abandon Matt.   
Kari meanwhile, was struggling even more with Tai. He seemed to have lost interest almost as much as Matt had although at least he was still working. But his boss was starting to complain, saying that his standard of work was declining. This was upsetting Tai even more and the atmosphere wasn't helping Sento very much. He'd come to the conclusion that his father didn't really love him. It wasn't helped by the fact that he was practically feeding himself and doing the cleaning. Kari had tried to make Tai see sense over this but Tai just didn't seem to be able to summon up the energy.  
Kari sighed. If she hadn't had TK to talk to, she'd have gone mad. He was going thought pretty much what she was, meaning that it was pretty useful to discuss with him what was happening.  
Then Davis started to get jealous.  
Kari had been vaguely noticing since she started spending time with TK that he was being a little strange. But it took her most of the week to realise why.  
"I'm going over to see TK tomorrow," she said to Davis as they did the washing up together.   
She saw Davis stiffen.  
"Do you have to?"  
She blinked.  
"I don't have to," she said slowly "I want to."  
Davis scowled darkly and started banging plates. Kari frowned confused.  
"What's wrong with you?"  
"Nothing!"  
"Liar," Kari said "What's the matter?"  
"You're always with TK!" Davis snapped "You're always with either Taichi or Sento or your precious TK! You don't have time for me anymore!"  
"Davis!" Kari said "That's not true! Don't be silly!"  
"Silly am I?" Davis said angrily "Why are you always with TK then? Answer that!"  
"He's my friend!" Kari said "I'm just talking to him about what's happening between Tai and Matt!"  
"Well why can't you talk to me?"  
"TK understands," Kari said "He's going though the same thing, he knows what I'm on about."  
Davis's scowl deepened. He banged the last plate into the drying rack.  
"Fine. Go and spend time with TK then!" he snapped before storming out. Kari looked after him in distress.   
Great. Wonderful. Thanks to Tai being completely unable to control himself, her marriage was having difficulties. That was just perfect.  
* * * *  
"Takeru."  
TK looked up from his lap-top. Shinoko was looking at him.  
"What?" he asked her.  
"I want him out."  
TK gulped. He really didn't want to have this conversation.  
"Shinoko....." he began pacifyingly but she cut him off.  
"Don't you 'Shinoko' me Takeru!" she said angrily "I'm sick of it you hear! I'm sick of this house not being my own."  
"But...."  
"No buts," Shinoko said "He's always here Takeru! And you can't deny that. He doesn't even go to work anymore! I'm sick of him sleeping on our sofa. I'm sick of him sitting around like a black thundercloud. I'm sick of him upsetting Mujaki!"  
"Mujaki's not upset...." TK said.  
"That's what you know!" Shinoko snapped "I don't know what Yamato told him but he thinks that we might leave each other! I'm fed up of this Takeru! I want your brother to leave here and find himself a home!"  
"Look Shinoko," TK said "I know it's annoying okay? Matt gets on my nerves sometimes too. But I can't just turf him out! He's my brother and he needs me right now! Don't you understand? He's miserable!"  
"And how I feel doesn't matter?"  
"That's not what I said."  
As TK and Shinoko argued, they didn't notice Matt moving away from the door where he'd heard everything that had been said.  
* * * *  
Sora looked at Tanoshii. He was picking at the food on his plate, not really eating.  
"Come on Tanoshii, eat up," she said "You need your strength."  
"Yeah," Tanoshii said. He poked a bit of broccoli round his plate.  
"Mum?" he said suddenly "Can I ask you something?"  
"Sure," Sora said instantly.  
"What does it mean if a man's kissing another man?"  
Sora stiffened slightly. This wasn't a question that she'd been expecting.  
"Why do you ask?" she asking, keeping her voice neutral.  
"It's something Sen....one of my friends said," Tanoshii mumbled, keeping his eyes on his plate.  
Sora frowned.  
"Well if a man kisses another man it means he's gay," she said "It's unusual to be gay but it's something that happens every now and then."  
"Oh," Tanoshii said.  
Sora sensed that there was something else that he wanted to ask. She waited patiently.  
"If a man's gay, does that mean that he doesn't kiss girls?"  
"No," Sora said slowly "They sometimes kiss girls as well. Why do you ask about this?"  
Tanoshii paused.  
"Sento said that Mr Yagami sometimes kisses men," he said at last.  
Sora managed to stifle a startled gasp. Tai? Kissing men? There had to be some mistake there.  
"He said that sometimes he used to kiss Dad," Tanoshii said.  
Sora froze. She actually felt the blood freeze in her veins.  
"What?" she said.  
"Sento said that Mr Yagami used to kiss Dad," Tanoshii repeated "He says that they've stopped now and maybe that's why Dad left. Is that true?"  
Sora said nothing. Tai used to kiss.....Matt? No. No, this was all a mistake, a horrible, horrible mistake....  
"Mum? Mum!"  
She blinked. Tanoshii was staring at her, his eyes wide.  
"Yes?" Sora said, her voice sounding distant.  
"Are you all right?" Tanoshii asked.  
"I'm fine," Sora said "I'm fine. You run along and play with Shinji now, there's a good boy."  
Tanoshii left, feeling worried. He'd obviously upset his mother badly but he wasn't sure how.   
Sora sat at the table. She sat quite still, staring at the wall. This had to be some horrible, horrible dream. It couldn't possibly be true, it just couldn't be. There was absolutely no way....  
Was there?  
* * * *  
Tai sat quietly in his normal place, staring at the wall.   
"Dad? Daaaaad? DAD!"  
He blinked. Sento was yelling at him.  
"Yes Sento?"  
Sento scowled.  
"You haven't eaten anything," he said.  
Tai looked at the table, as though expecting to see and plate of uneaten food there. Sento scowled crossly.  
"You need to go and make some," he said patiently.  
"Oh....I don't want anything," Tai said.  
Sento stamped his foot.  
"What if I did?" he yelled "You're supposed to make me dinner remember? I'm only eight-nearly-nine! You're supposed to be my Dad!"  
Tai blinked. Before he could say anything, Sento carried on, his voice tearful and accusing.  
"You don't love me!" he wailed "You don't love me anymore! You never did! You just love everyone else!"  
Tai reached out but Sento ducked away. Turning, he ran into his room, slamming the door behind him. Tai groaned. That was just wonderful. He'd lost Matt and Sora and managed to alienate his own son. Just fabulous.  
The phone rang. He picked it up.  
"Hello, Yagami residence."  
"Well thanks a bunch Taichi. Thanks a whole damn bunch!"  
It was Kari. She sounded like she'd been crying. Or drinking. Or both.  
"Kari?" Tai said, a wave of apprehension washing over him "Kari, what's wrong?"  
"Thanks to you," Kari said, her voice bitter "I'm having trouble with my marriage. Thank you so much Tai, thank you so very, very much."  
"Kari," Tai said "Kari, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to but I don't really understand..."  
"No," Kari said "Why would you? Well thanks Tai. You never think of anyone but yourself do you? It's always 'me, me, me'. And now you've split Matt and Sora up and your idiocy is upsetting things with me and Davis. And if you believe TK, he's having troubles with Shinoko because of you making Matt unhappy. So nice one 'oh fearless leader'. Way to go."  
She hung up. Tai sat there, staring at the phone in his hand.   
She was right. He couldn't deny it. Thanks to him, everything was going wrong. Everything was just falling apart for everyone and it was all his fault.  
Tai rested his head despairingly on the table top. He might as well just go and end it all now. Buy a gun and shoot himself. Hang himself from the ceiling rafters. Take an overdose of tablets. Everyone would be glad he'd gone. He was just spoiling everything for everyone.  
Someone knocked at the door. Tai ignored it, barely even hearing it in his misery. The knocking grew more forceful.  
"I'll get that shall I?" Sento called sarcastically "Thank you Sento," he added, mimicking his father's voice "That's most helpful. Oh not at all Dad," he said, switching back to his own voice "I love to help, you know that."  
He opened the door.  
Mr Ishida was standing on the doorstep. He looked cold and almost scared.  
"Dad's being stupid," Sento said "Feel free to come in and invite everyone over for a party 'cause I doubt he'd notice."  
Matt walked in and went into the kitchen. Sento stomped back into his bedroom. Tai didn't even look up. Matt stared down at his best friend and once-lover. Then he gently placed his hand on Tai's shoulder. Tai jumped and looked up.  
"Matt?" he said, his eyes growing wide in his head with shock "What're you doing here? I thought..."  
Matt put a finger on Tai's lips. Then he bent down and kissed him very gently. Tai instantly kissed back but then drew away.  
"Matt?" he muttered "I though you said..."  
"Maybe I've changed my mind," Matt said softly.  
Tai stood up so Matt could stop bending so much. They looked at each other.  
"This doesn't really change anything..." Tai said uncertainly "Maybe we should talk....discuss what happened."  
Matt leaned forward and kissed him again, pulling Tai nearer to him.  
"Screw talking," he whispered.  
"Yeah," Tai agreed and kissed Matt hungrily, remembering all the good times they'd had together, enjoying Matt's warm body against his....  
Neither of them heard the knock at the door, or Sento irritably going to answer it again. In fact, they only realised someone else had come in when there was a horrified gasp.  
"Tai? Matt?"  
The two leapt apart, whirling round in horror.  
Sora was standing in the doorway, her face white with horror.  
"Oh God Sora," Tai said, feeling like he was going to be sick. Oh no......  
"You two were...." Sora's voice broke off "You....you were....."  
"Sora," Tai said "I am so, so sorry. This is...I know that you must be...."  
"You BASTARDS!" Sora screamed. She grabbed the nearest thing which came to hand (which happened to be a large plate) and threw it at them. Matt jumped to one side, Tai (wisely) leapt under the table as Sora continued to throw things at them. Sento peered out of his room, his face pale with fright as Sora shouted insults and threw everything which came to hand at them. Eventually, she ran out of things to reach. Sento was crying and both of the men were staring at her, wide-eyed.  
"This is not over!" Sora shouted "I'll get you for this! Both of you!"  
Turning, she stormed out of the house, leaving a very frightened group behind her.  
  
The End of part 3.  
Review me, review me, review me! Comments, suggestions, ideas and even flames are all welcome, just review okay!?  
Don't forget to vote!!!! I can still salvage a Taiora but I think Sorato is a bit bollocksed. But I can still try!  



	4. The Way It Was

Tangled Web  
The Way It Was  
Starrysapphire, Taito Empress  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon and never will. Okay? Happy now? (I always think it would be really funny if you clicked on a fanfic and it said "Actually, I DO own whatever-the-fics-about." Now that would be funny!) But I don't. Own Digimon.  
  
Kari was woken up by the phone ringing. She scrambled up and answered it, glancing at the clock and deciding that this was an indecent time to be calling anybody.  
If this is Tai, I'll string him up she thought grimly.  
"Hello?"  
"Kari?"  
It was Sora. She sounded like she'd been crying.  
"Sora?" Kari said "What's wrong?"  
"Did you know?" Sora asked.  
"Huh?" Kari said.  
"Did you know?" Sora said, her voice rising slightly "About....about Tai and Yamato?"  
Kari stifled a groan. Oh no....  
"Sora..."  
"Did. You. Know?"  
"Yes," Kari said softly "Yes I did. Oh Sora, I'm so, so sorry."  
"Yes," Sora said, her voice bitter "Yes, I'm sure you really are."  
"What happened?" Kari asked.  
"Why don't you ask your brother?" Sora said angrily "If he's not too busy frenching my husband!"  
She slammed the phone down. Kari groaned aloud and ran her fingers thought her hair. Oh typical.  
"Kari? What's up?"  
It was Davis.  
"I thought you weren't speaking to me," Kari said miserably.  
"Oh that. Well....I'm sorry," Davis said awkwardly "I know I was out of line. I shouldn't have said what I did. I know that you'd never cheat on me and TJ'd never ever cheat on his wife."  
Kari hugged him tightly, not even bothering to say that it was TK. She started to cry.  
"Kari, don't cry!" Davis said "I'm really, really sorry. What's wrong?"  
"Oh Davis, it's all getting messed up!" Kari said miserably.  
She told Davis what Sora had said. Davis listened.  
"I thought Matt and Tai had broken up," he said.  
"So did I," Kari said sadly "Obviously they made up. Oh Lord, I'll have to apologise to Tai," she added, remembering what she'd said on the phone the night before.  
Davis hugged her again.  
"It'll all work out," he said "You'll see."  
Kari hoped that Davis was right.  
* * * *  
Joe was preparing to start the day at work when Sora phoned him. She was crying.  
"Sora, what's happened?" Joe asked, hoping this wouldn't take too long.  
"Tai and Yamato," Sora sobbed "They've been.....they've been sleeping together!"  
Joe felt his mouth drop open. Oh boy....  
"Oh?" he asked weakly.  
"Uh huh," Sora said "Sento told Tanoshii that he'd seen them kissing and then I went over there and I saw them!"  
"Oh Sora, I'm sorry," Joe said.  
"You don't seem very surprised," Sora said.  
Joe winced. Trust Sora to notice something like that, even when she was really miserable.  
"Um well I...." he stammered, wishing that he was a better liar. Everyone else had changed so much, why couldn't he have learned how to lie.  
"Listen, I have to work now but I can come over at lunch and see how you are. Would that be okay?" he said quickly.  
"Yeah. Sure," Sora said "I'll have something for you to eat."  
"Okay," Joe said.  
He hung up and groaned. Oh typical. Now he was going to have to make something up. Or tell Sora the truth of course. That all the Digidestined had known that her husband and boyfriend had been sleeping together before her.  
Joe muttered something irritable about guys who couldn't settle on one person before seeing his first patient.  
* * * *  
Tai was sitting on his sofa, resting his head on his fist, deep in troubled thoughts. He didn't register Matt sitting beside him until two warm arms slipped round him and Matt rested his head on his shoulder.  
"Hey," Tai said, looking down at Matt and smiling tiredly "You okay? You didn't look like you were going to wake up for a while."  
"I was tired," Matt said.  
Tai nodded. He kissed the top of Matt's head and rested his own head against the tangled mop of blonde hair.   
"Was Sento okay?" Matt asked.  
"I guess," Tai said "He was pretty upset about the whole thing. I've promised to take him swimming tonight as a reward. Want to come?"  
"I don't know Tai," Matt said, his voice sounding uneasy "People know I've recently split with Sora and if they see me and you together...well, they might jump to conclusions."  
"So?" Tai said "They'd be right then wouldn't they?"  
Matt shifted uncomfortably.  
"You think Sora's going to keep this a secret?" Tai said "I bet she's phoned everyone she knows and told them that we're sleeping together. People are going to know."  
"I know that but...." Matt's voice trailed off "I just don't want to Tai."  
"Please?" Tai said pleadingly "Pretty, pretty please?"  
"Tai I....umph!"  
Matt broke off as Tai leaned down and kissed him. Tai lightly tangled his fingers in Matt's hair and ran his fingers though it, smoothing it. Matt kissed him back happily. Tai pressed closer, then drew back.  
"Please?" he breathed in Matt's ear.  
"Well...."  
Tai let his hand fall lightly into Matt's lap. Matt squeaked.  
"Okay."   
"Thank you," Tai said, before going back to kissing him.  
* * * *  
Sora stood glaring at Joe who was staring at his feet and shifting guiltily. She knew he was lying and she knew that he was about to crack.  
"You knew that Matt and Tai were sleeping together didn't you!" she shouted angrily "Tell me the truth Joe!" "Well um...." Joe mumbled "I um...."  
"Didn't you?" Sora yelled.  
Joe sat down with a defeated sigh.  
"Yes Sora," he said sadly "I did. I'm really sorry...."  
"Who told you?" Sora demanded "If it was Matt, I'll skin him."  
"Izzy," Joe said in a small voice.  
"IZZY!" Sora yelled.  
"Yolei told him," Joe explained "Ken told her, Davis told him and Kari told him."  
Sora sat down. All the anger had gone out of her now and she was just upset. Joe uncertainly patted her back as she started to cry.  
"All my friends knew before me!" she sobbed "All of them knew before me!"  
Joe just shrugged.  
"Why?" Sora asked "Why'd he do this to me?"  
Joe said nothing. Sora eventually looked up. Joe drew back slightly. She looked mad.....  
"Sora," he said nervously "I am really, really sorry..."  
"Oh that's okay," Sora said "It's not your fault. You'd better be going though. You'll be late." "Sora...." "I'll see you soon," Sora said.  
After Joe had left, Sora grabbed the phone book and began flipping though it until she found the name she was looking for. Then she dialled the number.  
* * * *  
Tai looked at Matt. Matt was sulking, he could tell.  
"Oh come on Matt," Tai said eventually "You had fun."  
Matt said nothing. He got out a comb and began to fuss with his hair. Tai sighed.  
"What's up with Uncle Matt?" Sento asked "Didn't he enjoy swimming?"  
"He's just worried about his hair," Tai said.  
Sento giggled. He was in a good mood. His father had taken him swimming and he seemed much happier now.  
The doorbell rang.  
"I'm busy," Tai said promptly.  
"Doing what?" Sento asked.  
"Breathing."  
Sento rolled his eyes and went to answer the door. A woman was standing there who he didn't know. This wasn't unusual. Sento often didn't know his father's callers. Behind her was a man.  
"Are you Yagami Sento?" the woman asked, smiling at him gently.  
"Yes," Sento said "Dad's busy."  
"Is he in?" the woman said, frowning.  
"Yes," Sento said "But he's busy. Can I take a message?"  
"I'm afraid we must see him now," the woman said "Can you tell him that an Iljima Yoko is here to see him?"  
Sento obediently went off. He found his father kissing his Uncle Matt and coughed. His father jerked guiltily away and smiled at him sheepishly.  
"Sorry," he said.  
"An Iljima Yoko is here to see you," Sento said.  
His father frowned.  
"Mrs Iljima?" he said.  
Uncle Matt raised an eyebrow.  
"She's a social worker," Tai explained "Okay Sento, bring her in."  
Sento fetched the lady and her friend in, wondering what was going on.   
"Hello Mrs Iljima," his father said. He looked nervous.  
"Hello," Mrs Iljima said. She wasn't smiling "Sento, perhaps you could go into your room for a few moments with my colleague Mr Hongo? I need to speak to your father."  
Sento frowned and obeyed. Tai looked at Mrs Iljima.  
"Is something wrong?" he asked.  
"Yes, I'm afraid something is wrong," Mrs Iljima said briskly "I'm afraid that your ex-wife, Nishizono Ritsuko has accused you of being unfit to care for Sento. I'm afraid we have to take him away while we examine these allegations."  
"What?" Tai said "Unfit to take care of Sento? But I won the main parental responsibility! I am a fit parent!"  
"I'm afraid that's not what Ms Nishizono says," Mrs Iljima said calmly "Apparently she has been told that you have been exposing Sento to some....unsavoury things."  
She looked pointedly at Matt. Tai's eyes got very wide. He was looking panicked now.  
"But you can't take Sento away!" he said "You can't! He's my son! Where will he go?"  
"He will stay with Ms Nishizono until these allegations have been examined fully," Mrs Iljima said "We would prefer it if you made this as easy as possible Mr Yagami. For Sento. If you do not co-operate, we will be forced to bring the police in."  
Tai opened his mouth, preparing to yell. Matt put a restraining hand on his shoulder.  
"He'll co-operate," he said quietly.  
Tai swallowed painfully. He shook Matt's hand off.  
"Tai you have to co-operate," Matt whispered urgently "Do you want to keep Sento?"  
Tai swallowed again.  
"Fine," he hissed "When does he have to leave?"  
"I'm afraid we must take him immediately," Mrs Iljima said "We will pack some of his things but the rest of it will be fetched at a later date."  
Tai bit the inside of his cheek and went into Sento's bedroom. He was pleased to see that Sento was doing his homework with Mr Hongo watching him.  
"Sento?" he said, forcing his voice to sound normal.  
Sento looked up.  
"Yes Dad?"  
Tai tried to think of a good thing to say that wouldn't worry Sento.  
"There's no need to worry," he said "But you're going away to your mother's for a while."  
"Mum's? Why? I don't want to," Sento said promptly.  
"I'm sorry," Tai said "I can't do anything about it. But you'll be back here soon though."  
"Why?" Sento repeated.  
"It's very complicated," Tai said, wishing he didn't feel so obliged to be polite about Ritsuko and not say that it was all her fault "But you have to go for a little while."  
"Mum's trying for custody isn't she?" Sento said.  
"Yes," Tai said honestly "Yes I rather think she is."  
Sento's eyes began to fill with tears.  
"But you said it was over," he said "You said that I was going to live you now and I wouldn't have to worry about custody again!"  
Tai nodded.  
"I didn't know this was going to happen," he said "See, your mother thinks I'm not looking after you properly. So you're being taken away until I can prove that I am good dad for you."  
"Dad," Sento said "Daddy I don't want to go."  
Tai picked him up and hugged him.  
"I know," he said "I know but it won't be for long. And you'll be okay. You just make sure you're a good boy and you behave for your mother."  
Sento buried his head into his father's shoulder.   
"If Mum wins, will I get to see you again?" he mumbled.  
Tai said nothing, just hugged him tightly for a moment, then gently put him down.  
"Okay. We have to pack some things up for you," he said "Not too much, just school stuff and anything you can't live without."  
Sento cried all the time they packed. He clung onto his father desperately.  
"Daddy please don't make me go!" he wailed.  
"I'm sorry," Tai whispered "I'm sorry. But you've got to be a good boy okay? You promise me you'll make me proud?"  
Sento nodded. Tai kissed him and put him down.  
"Now you behave for Mrs Iljima," he ordered "And I'll see you very soon."  
He watched as Sento went out, then turned to Mr Hongo.  
"What happens now?" he asked, keeping his voice tight. Matt gently put his hand back on his shoulder, massaging it lightly.  
"You will be interviewed, as will your son and friends," Mr Hongo said "You will also be alerted for the court appearance." He looked at Tai and Matt and his lip curled slightly "If I were you Mr Yagami, I'd get yourself a good lawyer. People like you very rarely get awarded custody. It was probably a mistake to award it you originally."  
Turning, he walked out and down to his car. Tai stood there staring as the car drove away. He could see Sento staring out of the back window.  
"Oh no...."  
He waited until the car was out of sight, then turned and ran back into the house. He barely got into his room before collapsing on the bed in tears. He heard the front door being closed, then footsteps coming into the room.  
"Tai."  
Tai ignored him. He felt the bed dip and then Matt's arms going round him, his head resting on the side of Tai's.  
"Tai, it's going to be okay."  
Tai shook his head. He pulled away.  
"How can it be okay?" he sobbed "They've taken my son! They've taken my son and I don't know why!"  
Matt shook his head too. Reaching out, he pulled Tai back into his arms. Tai went limp and pressed into Matt, crying bitterly. Matt stroked his hair, struggling to soothe his lover, wondering why Nishizono Ritsuko would want to hurt Tai this way.  
* * * *  
Kari was playing Monopoly with Shinseru and Davis when the phone rang.  
"We're not in!" she yelled at it. Shinseru giggled as the answerphone picked up. Kari had always loved the message on their answering machine. Davis had recorded it and she wouldn't let him change it as it was so funny.  
"Hi this is the Motomiya household. We're not in right now but I'm sure we'll be back later to listen to the message which you're about to leave as soon as this thing beeps. Okay? Okay. Kari, how do you switch this thing off?"  
Davis scowled in embarrassment like he always did. Kari opened her mouth to soothe him, then froze.  
"Kari? It's me, Matt. We need you here now."  
Matt sounded awful. He sounded tired and miserable.  
"The social services have taken Sento away. Ristuko's accusing Tai of being a bad father. Tai's in a bad way. Kari, when you get this message, please come over. I know it's a lot to ask but...." Matt's voice trailed off in confusion "Please Kari. He needs you."  
The answering machine beeped calmly and then there was silence.  
"Social services?" Shinseru said "Who are they? Why have they taken Sento away?"  
"I don't know," Kari said grimly. She leapt up and grabbed her coat "I have to go."  
"Right," Davis said "Wish him luck."  
"I will," Kari said "I'll see you late sweetheart. Sorry to interrupt the game."  
She hurried out of the house leaving Davis - for one of the first times in his life - worrying about what was happening in his circle of friends.  
* * * *  
Tanoshii peered out of his room. Shinji was standing just behind him, wondering why his brother was listening to his mother's phone conversation.  
"Yeah," Sora was saying "I bet that shocked our little Taichi, the social services showing up at the door.......Yes, I am sure. I know that Tai's been neglecting Sento and I know that Sento's seen him kissing guys and strange women.....My own son told me. Plus things I've heard from both Kari and Joe. And I bet Yolei and Mimi will help us.....Oh, I'm sure he'll be okay. Kids always bounce back......I think that Tanoshii and Shinji are getting over him leaving. They don't ask to see him any more anyway. And they haven't noticed that he's stopped phoning....Oh thank you. That's nice. Yes, Sayo's fine. Sleeping like an angel. Unlike her father....oh really? So Sento was that quiet too?"  
Tanoshii carefully closed the door frowning.  
"Why's Mum so angry?" Shinji asked in a small voice.  
"I don't know," Tanoshii said, frowning harder. Things were all wrong here. He was only eight but he could feel it. His mother was so angry. She been unhappy before but now she was just angry. He wasn't sure who she was talking to but she seemed to be talking about Mr Yagami and Sento. Had Tanoshii done something wrong when he'd told his mother about his father and Mr Yagami? He hadn't known that he was. He'd just wanted to know. And he wanted to see his father again. And why were they comparing Sayo to Sento? He wasn't sure but he could feel that everything was bad and horrible.  
"Tanoshii? Tanoshii?"  
Shinji was tugging his brothers arm. Tanoshii looked at his brother.  
"When are things going to be normal again?" Shinji said "I want Daddy. I want Daddy to come home!"  
He started to cry loudly. Tanoshii stared at his brother, not sure what to do. He could feel tears stinging his own eyes but he blinked them away. He had to be a big boy now and he couldn't cry. He had to be good.  
But it wasn't easy.  
* * * *  
Kari looked at Tai. His face was blotchy and miserable and she'd never seen him look so bad before. He'd dozed off now and was tossing fretfully in the bed. She went out to talk to Matt. He was pacing up and down, his face angry.  
"I'm going to kill her," he said "That whats-her-name - Ritsuko. I'm going to kill her! How dare she accuse Tai of not being a good father?"  
Kari shrugged. She was as angry as Matt but using relaxing techniques to calm herself down. "Matt, I'm as mad as you are, but violence won't solve anything," she said firmly "We have to work out what to do. The first thing to do is to get Tai a good lawyer."  
"Iori," Matt said "He'll help."  
Kari frowned.  
"It might be better to get someone who doesn't know Tai," she said "People might claim that Iori was biased in Tai's favour."  
Matt kicked the wall.  
"Matt, calm down!" Kari ordered "This isn't helping anybody. Tai needs you to be strong for him."  
Matt sighed and sat down with his head in his hands. Kari waited, giving him a chance to calm down. It gave her a chance to think.   
Why would Ritsuko suddenly do this? She'd been angry when Tai had won main parental responsibility but that had been a long time ago. And why was she accusing Tai so suddenly of being an unfit father? Okay, so Tai's parental skills had been somewhat off par recently. But Ritsuko couldn't possibly know about that.....  
Or could she?  
"Matt," Kari said slowly "Sora saw you and Tai kissing the other day didn't she?"  
Matt blinked.  
"Yes," he said "Yes she did. Did she yell at you?"  
"No. Well yes - but that's not the point," Kari said "The point is, she was mad as hell."  
Matt frowned. Then his eyes narrowed.  
"You don't think...." he said "Sora....."  
Kari shrugged.  
"Only one way to find out," she said.  
Grabbing the phone, she dialled Sora's number. Sora answered.  
"Hello?"  
"Sora, it's me," Kari said, trying to keep her voice normal "Have you been in contact with Nishizono Ritsuko?"  
Sora gave a harsh laugh.  
"Yes I have," she said sharply "And now Tai's getting what he deserves."  
"Sora!" Kari cried angrily "Sento's his son!"  
"Oh, and you think that Tai's the perfect parent?" Sora said "He works for a phone-sex line! He's promiscuous and - among with God knows how many other people - he's been sleeping with both me and my husband, splitting up our marriage. He's been neglecting Sento recently, I know he has and so do you. Think about that and then try to tell me that Tai's a good parent."  
Kari said nothing. She knew that in effect, Sora was right. Tai hadn't exactly proved himself to be the perfect parent.  
"Sora...." she said eventually.  
"Skip it," Sora said "I'm seeing that Tai gets what he deserves. And his precious Yamato too. You might what to tell Matt that if his darling boyfriend gets declared an unfit parent, how much chance does he have of seeing his kids? Oh, I forgot. He doesn't care about his kids."  
She hung up. Kari stood there, numb with shock.  
"Kari?" she heard Matt say.  
She put the phone down.  
"Sora was the one who told Ritsuko," she said "She means to help Ritsuko prove Tai an unfit parent. It's the ultimate revenge on both of you."  
Matt groaned and put his head in his hands. Kari sat next to him, patting him on the back gently. Matt ran his hands though his hair.  
"This is all my fault," he said.  
"Rubbish!" Kari said.  
"It is," Matt said "I shouldn't have started sleeping with Tai in the first place. And I shouldn't have left Sora. I should have stayed for the kids."  
"Matt, look at me," Kari said "This is not your fault."  
Matt just sighed. Kari looked mournfully at the ceiling and wished for a peaceful life.  
* * * *  
Sento sat in the room. The woman was smiling at him but Sento refused to smile back. He didn't want to talk to her, didn't want to tell her anything. Anyway, he wasn't sure what to say. His mother had bought him down to the place, hugged him and told him to tell the truth and everything would be okay. Sento hoped that meant he could go back to being with his father. He loved his mother but he wanted to stay with his father, even if his Dad sometimes forgot about him or left him alone so he could be with his girlfriends and boyfriends....  
"What's it like living with your father Sento?" the woman said gently.  
Sento shrugged.  
"It's good, I like it," he said "Better than being with Mum."  
The woman nodded.  
"Does your father spend a lot of time with you?"  
Sento paused. He couldn't truthfully say that his father did. His father rarely spent lots of time with him.  
"Well not exactly," he said eventually.  
"Does he leave you alone in the house a lot?"  
"Not often," Sento said "Only a few times."  
"When was the first time?"  
"I don't remember."   
"How old were you?"  
Sento pondered.  
"About seven. But that was only once and for like, five minutes or something. He didn't do it again until recently."  
The woman nodded her head.  
"I see. So when your father is in, do you spend time with him?"  
"Sometimes. When he's not working or got friends over."  
"Does he have lots of friends over?"  
"Yes."  
"And do you like them?"  
Sento paused.  
"I don't really know most of them," he said "They're Dad's friends, not mine and they don't often come back anyway."  
"Men and women friends?"  
"Yes."  
There was a silence then. The woman was staring at him, looking thoughtfully. Sento looked around, trying to think of something to say.  
"Why don't they often come back Sento?" the woman asked.  
Sento paused.  
"They're only boyfriends and girlfriends," he said "Why should they come back?"  
The woman frowned.  
"How do you know that they're boyfriends and girlfriends?" she asked.  
"Well he kisses them," Sento said, wondering if the woman was stupid "And he goes into his room with them and closes the door. When the door is closed, I have to stay away. And it only closes when Dad's working or when he's got girlfriends or boyfriends over."  
"Does your father kiss them in front of you often?"  
"Well not often. When I was younger it was when he thought I wasn't looking. But now I'm older he's not so bothered," Sento said.  
"Does it upset you at all?"  
"Not really," Sento said.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well sometimes I wish he'd spend more time with me," Sento admitted "But that's okay 'cause Auntie Kari - she's Dad's sister - says that Dad does love me best, it's just he needs lots of people. And he's started spending more time with me now 'cause he's happy now he's with Uncle Matt."  
The woman nodded. She was looking sterner now.  
"Yes, your Uncle Matt," she said "Sweetie, can I ask you about Uncle Matt and Auntie Sora?"  
"You're in charge here not me," Sento said.  
The woman smiled a bit.  
"We can stop at anytime if you want to," she said "Now, what do you know about them?"  
"They used to be married but they aren't anymore 'cause they both liked my Dad and then something happened and Uncle Matt left home and eventually came to live with us after upsetting Dad," Sento said.  
The woman nodded.  
"What happened when your father was upset?"  
"Oh he just got depressed and didn't notice me and forgot to go shopping," Sento said.  
"He forgot to go shopping?"  
"Yup. I got to eat lots of chocolate 'cause that was all that was there!" Sento said happily.  
The woman smiled but it didn't reach her eyes.  
"So your father forgot to do the shopping? How many times?"  
"Just once or twice after Uncle Matt left him," Sento said.  
"Oh. All right then. Did he forget to do anything else?"  
"He forgot to send me to bed on time," Sento said "I got to watch all the late night movies!"  
"I see. What about school?"  
"Oh I got ready and went by myself," Sento said proudly.  
The woman nodded.  
"All right. Before this, did you father ever kiss Uncle Matt in front of you?"  
"Sometimes. He didn't mean for me to see but I'm good at sneaking," Sento said.  
"And did you ask him about it?"  
"No. I didn't want to make him mad."  
"Did he get mad at you a lot?"  
"No. Just sometimes. But all Dads get mad sometimes," Sento said.  
"Did he ever hit you?"  
"No. Well, sometimes when I was little he'd give me the occasional whack on the legs. But nothing apart from that," Sento said. He was getting scared now. Nervous. Were they trying to make it sound like his Dad was a child abuser?  
"Does your father show you affection?"  
"Yes. He loves me," Sento said "Why are you trying to make it sound like Dad's a bad person?"  
"Sento, we're not," the woman said "We're just trying to make sure that he's a suitable parent for you to live with."  
"He is! He is!" Sento shouted "I'm fine! We were fine until all this stuff with Uncle Matt and Auntie Sora and that stupid baby and Mum sticking her oar in! I hate her! I hate her and I hate Auntie Sora and I hate that dumb baby! I want to go home!"  
He was slightly ashamed when he started to cry but it worked. The woman tried to soothe him but eventually gave up and brought his Mum in. Sento wouldn't talk. He stopped crying and sulked instead. His mother took him over to Auntie Sora's house and told him to play nicely with Tanoshii and Shinji. Both boys were in their room.  
"Hello Sento," Tanoshii said.  
Sento still refused to speak. He didn't want to. The boys seemed to understand because they didn't press. Instead they went over to the door and opened it a crack to listen to whatever their mothers were saying.  
"He got very upset poor thing," Sento heard his mother saying.  
"Well it must be upsetting for him. After all, he's lived with Tai for how many years? He's going to have to adjust," Sora's voice replied.  
"True. He'll get used to it again soon. Sento's a little like his father that way - he always bounces back."  
"Yes."  
"So what about Tanoshii and Shinji? How are they coping?"  
"Oh, they're fine I think. Still trying to settle. Tanoshii's not working properly in school and Shinji's just playing up but they're calming down. They don't seem to be taking it out on Sayo which is a blessing."  
"How is she anyway?"  
"Oh Sayo's fine. Little lamb."  
"How old is she anyway?"  
"Nearing eight months. She's such a sweetheart. Much better behaved than either of the boys were."  
"That's babies for you. I'd say it was Tai's influence only Tai's not a calm and quiet person."  
"You can say that again!"  
They both laughed, not in a very nice way. Tanoshii closed the door and looked at Sento.  
"Sayo's not Dad's baby," he said accusingly "She's your Dad's baby."  
"How'd you know?" Sento said "They didn't say that."  
"They nearly said it!" Tanoshii said "And Mum's said stuff like it before! It's your Dad's fault that our Dad moved out."  
"That's not my fault!" Sento snapped "I'm not living with him anymore anyway! And I want my Dad just as much as you want yours so don't you get angry with me!"  
Shinji started to cry again.  
"Please don't fight!" he wailed "Why doesn't anyone like each other anymore?"  
Tanoshii hugged his brother, his anger forgotten. Sento came over and the three boys stood together, confused, unhappy and all feeling miserable. None of them really understood what was happening but they all knew one thing. They wanted things back the way they had been.  
* * * *  
Matt looked at Tai. He was sitting at the kitchen table, his face very pale. He'd been sitting there since the social worker had left.  
"Tai?" he said softly "Tai?"  
Tai looked up.  
"They don't think I'm a fit parent do they?" he said hollowly.  
"Rubbish," Matt said, sitting down beside him "Rubbish. That was one interview. And anyone can see that you are a great parent! You're a super parent! Anyone with half a brain can see that!"  
"Crap!" Tai said "Look at me Matt! I work for a sex-phone line. I can't control my hormones. I got a married woman pregnant while sleeping with her husband. I started to neglect my son because I was so busy chasing everything else! Look at me Matt! They're right! I'm a crap father!"  
"No!" Matt said "Tai you can't think like that! You're not a bad father!"  
"Yes I am!" Tai sobbed "I'm a terrible father! I'm a terrible father and a bad person!"  
Matt hugged Tai tightly.  
"Tai, it's going to be all right," he said "You're not a bad person and you're not a bad parent. Any court will see that you love Sento more than anything else."  
"Sento couldn't see that," Tai said "He accused me of loving everyone else more than him. What's he going to say to them Matt? Why shouldn't he tell the complete truth? And then they'll take Sento away forever and you probably won't get to see Tanoshii and Shinji either cause I'm an 'unfit parent' and...."  
"Tai, will you just stop it?" Matt said "None of this is going to happen! I know that it won't! Everything is going to be fine."  
"Oh what would you know?" Tai snapped "Half is your fault anyway!"  
"My fault?"  
"If you hadn't left Sora and let her catch us kissing this would never have happened!" Tai said.  
"That not fair," Matt said quietly "You'll understand that when you feel better. You're upset at the moment which is why you're saying these things."  
Tai shook his head.  
"I'm going to bed," he said.  
Matt watched him go. Then he pressed his aching head into his hands. What was he going to do now? Tai was miserable, Sora was angry and he didn't dare ring Sora up to see his kids. He didn't want to bother TK because he knew that Shinoko was angry about all the time he'd been spending there recently. He also knew that TK was probably going to be interviewed over Tai's parenting skills anyway. All in all, at that point, his life was screwed. And Tai was right. A large amount of it was all his fault.  
  
The end of part 4.  
  
  
  



	5. Fights

Tangled Web  
Fights.  
By Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or the characters (something that they are probably pretty grateful for!)  
  
Tai stared at himself in the mirror.  
"Do I look okay?" he asked Matt anxiously "Do I look respectable?"  
"Tai, you look great," Matt said gently.  
Tai ran a hand though his hair.  
"Maybe I ought to gel it," he said.  
"Tai, it looks okay," Matt said.  
Tai grabbed a comb and ran it though his hair. Matt smiled wryly, remembering the days when Tai needed a massive brush to tame his tangles. Tai licked his lips.  
"Christ, I hate this," he muttered.  
A social worker was coming over to talk to him about his parenting. Then his solicitor was going to discuss what was happening.  
"Tai, I don't have to go to work," Matt said quietly "I can stay and support you..."  
"No," Tai said "You'll loose your job if you take any more time off. I'll be fine. Kari's coming over later anyway. You don't worry about me. All right?"  
Matt nodded. He kissed Tai gently.  
"You'll do fine," he said softly.  
Tai nodded.  
"I hope so," he whispered "Oh God I hope so."  
He pressed his face into Matt's shoulder for a moment then pulled back.  
"You'll be late," he said "Are you sure I look...."  
"You look great," Matt interrupted.  
Tai nodded.  
"Good. Thanks. Yeah," he said.  
Matt left, hoping that Tai would be okay by himself. He didn't want to leave him. But Tai was right. Matt was already very close to losing his job, something that wouldn't look good for either of them. Sighing, Matt set off for work.  
* * * *  
"Yagami Sento! Are you listening to me?"  
Sento looked up. His teacher was glaring at him.  
"No," Sento said.  
The teacher glared murderously at him as the rest of the class giggled.  
"Go outside Sento," the teacher ordered.  
Sento obeyed. He stood in the corridor, staring silently at the water fountain. He didn't see why he should try in school. He didn't want to. He wasn't interested.  
"What are you doing out here?"   
It was Tanoshii.  
"I got sent out for not listening," Sento said "What about you?"  
"I excused myself," Tanoshii said "Now I'm loitering."  
Sento shrugged. Tanoshii stood next to him.  
"How's your Mum?" he asked.  
"She's a bitch," Sento said.  
"Sento! You should say that about your Mum!" Tanoshii said.  
"It's okay for you," Sento said "You have a nice Mum! Mine is a bitch! She's taken me away from Dad and she won't let me see him and she's trying to get him declared a bad parent."  
"With my Mum's help," Tanoshii pointed out "She's not a nice Mum."  
The boys were silent.  
"How's your Dad?" Sento asked eventually.  
"I don't know," Tanoshii said "He phoned but Mum wouldn't let him speak to us. She wants to restrict our contact with him or something and after this is done, she'll be taking it to the courts. I think. I didn't understand. Then the Baby cried and Mum was cuddling her so I couldn't ask."  
Tanoshii never used Sayo's name now, just called her 'the Baby'.  
Sento sighed.  
"You'd better go or you'll get in trouble," he said.  
Tanoshii wandered off. Sento remained standing by the door, waiting for his teacher to call him in and shout. He didn't care anymore. He just wanted to go home, back to his father. He didn't want to try in school, didn't want to be with his mother. Just wanted things to be normal again.  
But that didn't seem likely.  
* * * *  
Ken looked at Yolei who was looking upset.  
"What's wrong?" he asked gently.  
"Sora phoned me," Yolei explained "She wants me to give evidence against Tai, proving him an unfit parent."  
Ken gave her a sympathetic look.  
"What are you going to do?"  
"I don't know," Yolei said "Sora's my friend and I don't want to let her down....but on the other hand, Kari's my friend too and it'll be her brother I'm proving a bad parent."  
"Well, do you think that Tai is a bad parent?" Ken asked her.  
"No, not really," Yolei said.  
"Then stand up and say that in court," Ken said "You can't lie. And Tai needs help with this."  
Yolei nodded.  
"But I don't want to upset Sora," she said "To be honest, I'd rather avoid this all together. From what Kari's told me, it's put a strain on everybody who's involved."  
Ken knew she was right. He'd had a long talk with Davis after Davis had got jealous of Kari and TK - something that hadn't happened for years. Davis had admitted to feeling stressed out and worried - and that had been before the court thing had started.  
"You'll have to decide what to do for yourself," he said "But to be honest, I think we should stay out of it. This could tear all our friends apart."  
Yolei nodded.  
"I don't understand how Tai could do this!" she exploded "Maybe he is a bad parent! Sleeping with both of them! I mean, how stupid can you get?"  
Ken shrugged.  
"Tai's ruled by his hormones," he said "As far as I can tell, he always has been."  
Yolei sighed.  
"I'll have to think about this," she said.  
Ken nodded. He privately wished Tai hadn't been such a moron. But that was now immaterial. Now they just had to try and sort out the mess.  
And hope that not too many people got hurt in the process.  
* * * *  
Tai was sitting on the sofa when Matt arrived back from work. The TV was on but Tai didn't seem to be watching it.  
"Hey Tai," Matt said softly.  
"What? Oh hey," Tai said. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was haggard. Matt sat quietly next to him.  
"How'd it go?"  
Tai shook his head.  
"Awful," he said "It was awful. The social worker had obviously already made up his mind about me. He thought I was a terrible parent, you could tell. And I was trying to tell the truth and not lie but the more I did, the more I realised all the awful things I'd done to poor Sento. Sento must have told them some of it 'cause it was personal stuff. I thought I'd kept the kid away from all that but...."  
Matt wrapped a supporting arm around Tai's shoulders.   
"It's all right Tai," he said "Sento's a good kid. No matter what he's seen, you can tell that Sento is a good kid. He always gets top grades in school, he's well behaved....anyone can see that you've done a great job of bringing him up."  
Tai shrugged.  
"What did the solicitor say?" Matt said.  
Tai dragged his fingers though his already dishevelled hair.  
"She said that while courts could be prejudiced against homosexuals, that wasn't the real problem," he said "The real problems are that I neglected Sento badly after I split with you and Sora and the fact that I was sleeping with both of you and that Sento became aware of it. Also the fact that I got Sora pregnant and that I split a family up. So it shouldn't be too hard to get me off."  
He started to cry again. Matt hugged his lover helplessly. He'd never seen Tai lose it so much before, not ever.  
"Tai, please stop," he whispered "It's gonna be okay, I swear it is. We can work this out...."  
"How?" Tai asked "How can we? I am irresponsible, I am a bad parent...."  
"Dammit Tai, stop!" Matt exploded, jerking to his feet. Tai looked up at him, shocked.  
"You're not a bad parent!" Matt yelled "You're letting Ritsuko and Sora convince you that they're right! You're letting them win already! You can win this, you can prove that you are a good parent but only if you get your head out of your backside and start trying!"  
Tai continued to stare at him, his eyes wide. Matt had never shouted at him like that - well, not while they were dating and not splitting up anyway.  
"All right," he said softly "I'll try harder."  
He tossed his head and stood up so he was staring into Matt's face.  
"I'm not losing my son to that witch!" he said.  
"That's the spirit," Matt said, kissing Tai on the lips "Now. We've got to start sorting stuff out."  
"Stuff like....?"  
"Character references," Matt said bluntly "We need to make you look like a decent citizen. Kari can help there. So can Ken."  
"Matt," Tai said suddenly "What if they're helping Sora? I don't want to split our group of friends apart."  
Matt paused.  
"Tai," he said gently "Don't you think it's a little late to worry about that?"  
Tai swallowed.  
"I guess you're right," he said softly.  
Matt nodded. He rubbed Tai's arm gently.  
"Come on. Let's phone Kari," he said.  
* * * *  
Sento was walking home with Tanoshii and Shinji when a group of kids surrounded them in a big circle. Some looked older than the boys, others looked about the same age.  
"We know all about you two," one of them said, standing slightly more in than the others, smiling mockingly. He looked about thirteen and very tough.  
"You do?" Tanoshii said uncertainly.  
"We know about your fathers," the boy said.  
"Our fathers?" Sento said.  
"Yeah. About them," the boy said.  
"I don't understand," Shinji said timidly, shrinking behind the older boys who were standing together for protection. They all sensed the danger exuding from the crowd of kids.  
"Didn't anyone tell you? Too 'bad' for little kiddie ears?" the boy asked sneeringly "We know that your fathers are screwing! That they're dirty great faggots!"  
A titter went round the circle. Shinji looked confused. He didn't know the word but he knew that they were insulting his father.  
"They're not!" he said.  
The circle laughed.  
"What? They aren't gay? Your Dad didn't leave you so he could go and fuck his Dad?" the boy sneered.  
Shinji whimpered uncertainly and huddled behind his brother even more.  
"Leave him alone!" Sento said angrily, stepping in front of the Ishida brothers.  
"Protecting them?" the boy said "Is he your lover? Is it a 'like father, like son' thing?"  
He pointed at Tanoshii when he said 'he'. All the kids laughed again. Sento glared at him.  
"Don't be stupid," he said scornfully "We're too young. And so are you. What business is it of yours anyway?"  
"Everyone knows," the boy said "Everyone knows about your fathers. It's disgusting. And so are you."  
"You are stupid," Tanoshii piped up "There's nothing wrong with men liking other men. My Mum told me."  
Sento frowned. He knew that he had to protect the Ishida brothers. When his father had talked about his days in the Digiworld, he mentioned that he'd been the leader and always protected the others. Sento knew that he had to do that now.  
"Stupid? Me?" the boy said. Abruptly, his face darkened. The circle began to close in round the boys.  
"Your fathers are freaks," the ringleader said "We're gonna show you that that's wrong."  
"Tanoshii," Sento whispered "When I say run, we go straight for them okay and burst though the circle. Then I'll draw them away and you and Shinji run off. Right?"  
Tanoshii nodded and gripped Shinji's hand. Someone kicked Sento, causing him to wince.  
"Faggot's children!" someone yelled.  
"Do you think that makes them Faggettes?" someone else asked and everyone laughed "Faggettes! Faggettes!"  
"NOW!" Sento yelled. The three threw themselves forwards, startling the circle. Some of them grabbed at them and one of them caught Sento's school bag. Sento quickly slipped out of it and the boys ran. Tanoshii and Shinji veered off and Sento turned to the children running after them.  
"Come on then!" he yelled "Come on then! You think you can get me? Come and try!"  
Then he bolted off down the road, running as fast as he could, hoping that they'd leave Tanoshii and Shinji alone. He didn't know this area very well, not as well as he knew his home but he was pretty sure that he knew it well enough to avoid the other kids. He could hear them chasing him, yelling insults. But they were getting quieter and he was pretty sure that he'd lost them....  
WHAM!  
Dazed, Sento fell to the floor. He blinked, then looked up. A group of children were grinning mockingly at him.  
"Going somewhere?" one of them asked.  
Sento looked round desperately. The other children had caught up now. Sento realised that they must have split up. They did know the place better than him. He'd made a mistake. And this mistake was really going to hurt.  
* * * *  
Tai snuggled closer to Matt on the sofa. Matt smiled at him and stroked Tai's hair. They'd had a busy afternoon trying to get support for Tai. Kari and Davis had agreed instantly. TK had agreed to help but he'd confessed that Shinoko might not approve of him getting involved. Ken had refused to get involved, saying that he and Yolei were staying neutral for everyone's sake. Matt could see his point. Yolei was close to Sora and Ken was close to Davis meaning that taking sides would be bound to lose them friends.   
"Has anyone ever told you that you are the most brilliant person ever?" Tai asked Matt.  
"No but that's okay. You've been busy," Matt said.  
Tai laughed and kissed Matt cheerfully. Matt surrendered happily into the kiss, letting Tai wriggle up so he was leaning over him.  
"Why do you always get to go on top?" he mumbled into Tai's mouth.  
"Cause I'm brilliant," Tai murmured, kissing Matt lightly, then moving so he was trailing kisses down Matt's neck, whispering between kisses "And beautiful......and lovely.....and modest....."  
Matt snorted faintly, then groaned as Tai lightly nuzzled the hollow of his throat. He let Tai begin to remove his clothes, reaching down to return the favour to Tai.  
A shrill 'bring!' echoed though the apartment. The phone was ringing.  
"Aw...." Tai mumbled, beginning to pull back.  
"No," Matt said, pulling him back "Leave it Tai."  
"Matt you know I can't...."  
"Why not? C'mon, please," Matt muttered, running his hands over Tai's shoulders and down his back "It's probably not important. You could be anywhere...."  
Tai laughed and leaned down and kissed Matt passionately. The phone rang twenty-three times before falling silent. But by that time, neither Tai or Matt were paying any attention to it.  
* * * *  
Sora peered uncertainly into her sons room. Shinji was sitting under the desk, sucking his thumb. Tanoshii was ignoring him, quietly playing with some playdough. Sora walked into the room.  
"Shinji," she said "What are you doing under there?"  
Shinji said nothing. He pushed his thumb further into his mouth and didn't say anything.  
"Shinji," Sora tried again "What's wrong?"  
Shinji didn't say anything.  
"Tanoshii," Sora said "What's wrong with your brother?"  
"Nothing," Tanoshii said "He just likes it under there."  
Sora raised an eyebrow. Tanoshii gave her a dark look and turned back to his playdough. Sora saw that he had made little models of a two men, two women, three children and one small baby. He'd stood the two men together and the women opposite them. The children and baby were standing in the middle, pressed back to back.  
"Oh Tanoshii," Sora said, kneeling down beside him "Is that how you feel? Torn between us."  
"No," Tanoshii said. He grabbed the figures, squashing them up "That's not how it is, is it?"  
"No," Sora said "It's...."  
"We don't get to see Dad!" Tanoshii yelled "You don't care! You don't want us to see Dad any more! I heard you say! You won't let him talk to us, you won't let him see us any more! No Dad! Not ever!"  
"Tanoshii!" Sora said, feeling shocked "That's not how it is! Not at all! I'm only trying to do what's best for you...."  
"No! That's not it!" Tanoshii screamed "You won't let us see our Dad because you're angry! Like that horrible Ritsuko won't let Sento see Uncle Tai cause she's mad at him! It's not fair! I want my Dad!"  
His screams upset Sayo and she started to cry. From under the table, Shinji began to cry too. Sora stared anxiously between them.  
"Oh go to the Baby!" Tanoshii snapped "Shinji doesn't want you anyway!"  
He wriggled under the table and wrapped his arms round his little brother. Sora stared at them, then went to comfort Sayo. When Sayo was finally quiet, Sora went back to try and talk to the boys. But the door was blocked by a barricade and she couldn't get in. She went into her bedroom, lay on the bed and started to cry. How had her family come to this?  
* * * *  
Matt stirred sleepily in Tai's arms. The phone ringing had cut though his sleep.  
"Tai?" he muttered drowsily.  
"Sh. I'll go," Tai murmured.  
He moved away leaving Matt feeling cold. He heard the phone's rings stop and there was silence. But Matt couldn't doze off again. Sighing, he scrambled to his feet and pulled on his clothes. Walking into the hall, he opened his mouth to ask Tai if he wanted something to drink. He stopped when he saw Tai's face. It was white. He gulped and put the phone down slowly.  
"Tai? Tai, what's wrong?" Matt asked.  
"That was Ritsuko," Tai said, his voice sounding faint and shocked "She says that Sento was attacked this afternoon coming home from school. A bunch of kids. They knew....knew about us and they.....they were...."  
"Is he okay?" Matt asked.  
Tai nodded.  
"Ritsuko said that he just had some bad bruises and cuts and a black eye," he said "Apparently he was walking with Tanoshii and Shinji and they separated. But they caught Sento."  
"God, I'm sorry," Matt said.  
"She phoned earlier. Sento wanted to talk to me," Tai said. His voice was shaking "He was upset when I wasn't there. By the time she got through, Sento was in bed. She says that he cried himself to sleep."  
"Oh Tai," Matt said. He stepped over to comfort Tai. Tai twitched violently away.  
"Tai?" Matt said.  
"You were the one who stopped me answering the phone!" he snapped "If you'd let me answer like I wanted to, Sento wouldn't have been so miserable!"  
"Tai!" Matt said "Don't be like this! It's not my fault!"  
"Well you stopped me didn't you?"  
"Yes, but...."  
"But nothing! You're the one who just keeps causing all my problems!" Tai shouted "You and your stupid temper! If you hadn't got so mad and left Sora...."  
"I found out that she'd had your baby!" Matt cried "What did you think I'd do Tai? She slept with you, then had your baby and she didn't tell me!"  
"If you'd just thought about it for a few moments, you'd have realised that you weren't helping anyone!" Tai shouted "But no! You had to just act impulsively and ruin everything!"  
"Don't you dare blame this on me!" Matt yelled "You were the one who slept with both me and Sora! If you'd even attempted to control your hormones for five minutes, you could have prevented all of this!"  
Tai shook his head bitterly. He knew the truth of what Matt was saying but was too angry and upset to care.  
"Oh I'm so very sorry that I spoiled your perfect marriage!" he snarled sarcastically "You know, the marriage that only took place to prove that you weren't gay and everything!"  
"Tai, that's not fair!" Matt said "I didn't just marry Sora because of that. I really did have strong feelings for Sora. It's just....I didn't really love her. But I would never have cheated on her if it hadn't been for you!"  
"What, I forced you into sleeping with me?" Tai spat.  
"You initiated the kiss!" Matt shouted.  
"Because that really wasn't in your mind?" Tai said viciously "Why did you come to me then? When we were younger, you wanted me more than anything Matt! You expect me to believe that all of those feelings had gone when you came to me?"  
"We were best friends Tai!" Matt shouted "I always came to you with everything! Always! I didn't see why that had to change! I didn't realise that you were going to start that! Especially as you were already sleeping with Sora!"  
"Well it wasn't intentional!" Tai snapped defensively "It just sort of....happened."  
"Oh yes, you just accidentally ended up kissing me!" Matt shouted "What happened, you sort of fell on my lips?"  
"Yeah, and you tried so hard to stop me!" Tai yelled "You struggled like anything!"  
"I was upset!" Matt cried "I wanted someone to help me!"  
"Yeah you did," Tai said "And you picked me and let me kiss you! So don't you blame me for starting anything, because you were just as willing as I was!"  
There was a silence then, the two of them glaring darkly at each other. Tai broke the staring contest, shaking his head bitterly.  
"I'll tell you something Matt," he said "I may not be able to control my hormones....but neither can you. I can make you do anything by using sex. You're just as weak as me. All I have to do is kiss you and you just give in to me and agree to whatever I ask."  
Matt hung his head, guilt and anger raging though him. He knew what Tai had said was true. Tai brushed past him and stalked into his room, slamming the door. Matt stood silently in the hall, staring after him for a long time.  
  
End of Part 5.  
  
  



	6. Experiences

Tangled Web  
Experiences.  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon and I never will.  
I've separated Ken and Yolei because when I started writing this, it was before I realised how evil Kenyako is. So I'm getting rid of it.  
  
Matt woke up with pins and needles. He was beginning to heartily wish that the word 'sofa' didn't exist. He was tired of sleeping on them.  
He sat up and blinked. Tai was leaning against the sofa, fast asleep.  
"Tai?" Matt said.  
Tai's eyes opened and he gave Matt a distinctly sheepish look. Since he'd gone to bed after the row with Matt, Matt hadn't expected to find him out there.  
"What are you doing out here?" Matt asked, running a hand through his hair.  
Tai shrugged.  
"Came out to see if you were okay," he muttered.  
Matt said nothing. He got up, pushing the blanket off. Looking at the clock, he mentally swore. Another problem with sleeping on the couch was that you always woke up early, no matter how tired you were.  
"Matt, I..."  
He looked at Tai. Tai swallowed and turned away.  
"Forget it," he muttered.  
The rest of the morning was spent in stormy silence until Matt left for work, pretending that he didn't care that he and his boyfriend weren't speaking.  
* * * *  
Tanoshii admired Sento's war-wounds profusely in school. He knew that Sento's pride was wounded because he'd not managed to fight the children off and made sure to give lots of praise about how he'd saved Shinji from getting hurt. By lunch, Sento was feeling happier about himself although not about everything else. He and Tanoshii sat in their normal place, nibbling at their lunches. Both were suffering loss of appetite.  
"Mum likes health food," Sento said "I hate healthy stuff. I mean, Dad made me eat all my vegetables but at least I never had to eat health food."  
Tanoshii shrugged.  
"My lunch isn't much different," he said "Except when She's busy with the Baby. Then it's always those ready-made gunk snacks."  
"Gunk snacks?"  
"That's what Dad used to call them."  
Tanoshii scowled.  
"I told Her that but She wouldn't listen and got cross. She said She didn't have time to make us proper lunches."  
Sento looked at him.   
"I hate Her!" Tanoshii said "She pretends that Dad's not been calling but I know he has only She won't let us talk to him because She doesn't think he's suitable! It's not fair! I hate Her, I hate Her!"  
Sento nodded his agreement about mothers. The two of them sat there for a while in silence.  
"Tanoshii," Sento said at last "I've got an idea...."  
* * * *  
Tai called in sick for work and spent the day moping. He was trying to sort things out in his head.  
He knew that he'd been wrong to say what he'd said to Matt. Why was he so determined to push Matt away? Matt was one of the only people who was sticking by him completely except Kari and he seemed determined to put Matt off being with him.  
Maybe it was commitment. Maybe the commitment scared him.  
Tai fell back against the pillows with a sigh. He was just screwed. Everything was just so awful. He was twenty-seven years old now and what had he made of his life? He had one broken marriage, he'd split up another one, he was involved in a violent custody battle to keep his son which he was almost certain to lose. He seemed to cause troubles no matter what happened.  
Tai swallowed miserably. Why did he keep spoiling everything?  
The phone rang. Tai answered it dully.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi Tai," Ken said. He sounded tired.  
"Ken," Tai said "What's wrong?"  
"Yolei and I have separated," Ken said quietly "I'm telling everyone because it's going to get round sooner or later."  
"You and Yolei...oh no!" Tai said "Oh God Ken, I'm so sorry!"  
"It's okay," Ken said softly.  
"What happened?" Tai asked. He suddenly felt a sharp feeling of sickness.  
"Ken," he said "It's wasn't anything to do with...?"  
"No," Ken said quickly "No Tai, this wasn't anything to do with you. It was...it was sort of me and Davis."  
"You and Davis?" Tai repeated.  
"It's a bit complicated," Ken said "But...but we weren't exactly doing anything...but we were playing a game."  
"Game?" Tai repeated.  
"Yeah. It was...was last night. We...we used to describe fantasies to each other," Ken said "Descriptively. And it was...it involved other guys."  
"Oh," Tai said slowly.  
"And...and we were getting into it and...and I kissed Davis," Ken blurted.  
"You kissed...!"  
He heard Ken give a sort of half sob.  
"I don't even know why!" he wailed, his calm facade cracking "But...but I did. I just sort of kissed him and he was just letting me. I think he was shocked, I don't think he even knew what was happening. And then Yolei came in and caught us...and she just screamed the place down."  
"I can imagine," Tai said, remembering Sora's yells when she'd caught him and Matt kissing.  
"And she's kicked me out...and she's going to tell Kari...and I'm going to have destroyed Kari and Davis's marriage!" Ken wailed.  
He started to cry, his sobs echoing down the phone.  
"Ken!" Tai said "Ken, it's okay. Please don't cry. Listen, where are you?"  
"A phone box."  
"Right," Tai said "I'll come and get you okay? Just tell me exactly where you are."  
Ken told him.  
"Just stay there," Tai ordered "It's going to be okay, I promise."  
Ken's phonecall had come just at the right time really. It had stopped him moping which was really what Tai sorely needed.  
* * * *  
Kari got home from work to find Davis sitting on the sofa.  
"Hey Davis," she said. Then she frowned. Davis looked really odd.  
"Kari," he said "Kari, I've got something I've got to tell you."  
"What's up?" Kari asked.  
Davis tugged his hair.  
"I...I didn't mean to do it!" he said "It wasn't on purpose!"  
"What?" Kari asked.  
Davis gulped.  
"Ken...he kissed me," he blurted "We were talking...just talking...and then Ken kissed me...and I didn't push him away and then Yolei came in and I think she's kicked Ken out and now she'll be calling you and I'm so sorry!"  
He started to cry. Kari blinked.  
"Ken kissed you?"  
Davis nodded.  
"Kari, I am so, so sorry," he said "I never meant for it to happen, I swear. I know you must be really mad but I love you, I never wanted anything like this."  
Kari swallowed.  
"I know," she said softly "I know you didn't. It's okay Davis. I know that you don't want us to split up. And I don't want to either."  
"Really?" Davis said "It's...it's okay between us?"  
Kari nodded. She hugged him tightly.  
"It's all right Davis," she said "I love you and I trust you. I know that you'd never cheat on me. What happened was a mistake. I trust both you and Ken."  
Davis smiled in relief. Kari hugged him tightly, wishing that Tai could solve his problems like this.  
* * * *  
When Matt came in, he found Tai and Ken sitting on the couch. Ken was crying and Tai was patting him on the back.  
"Hey Matt," he said softly.  
"What's happened?" Matt asked.  
"Yolei and I have split up!" Ken sobbed "And it's all my fault!"  
Matt sat down immediately.  
"Matt," Tai said softly "Can you take care of him for a while? I urgently need to phone Kari."  
Matt nodded.  
"Sure," he said.  
Tai shot off into his bedroom. Matt hugged Ken, not sure what he was supposed to do. Ken just huddled there crying.  
"I kissed Davis!" he cried "I kissed him and Yolei caught us and she wouldn't believe me that I hadn't meant to and she kicked me out and now I've ruined everything!"  
"It's okay," Matt whispered soothingly "It'll be all right, I promise, it's going to be okay..."  
He just sat there until Tai came back.  
"I've been talking to Kari," he said "It's okay Ken. Davis told Kari everything and she's not dumped him. She's forgiven him and she trusts you both."  
Ken looked at him.  
"Really?" he said "She and Davis are okay? Really?"  
Tai nodded. Ken started to cry again, this time with relief. Tai and Matt both struggled to comfort him. Both were thinking about the same thing, although they didn't know it.  
  
End of Part 6  
  
All right, all right, this is really short, fairly crappy and pointless and it's taken months to come and you're all going to hate me. Be patient. I've been having a hell of a time with this fic and I'm trying my best to manage it and everything else in my life (I'm doing my Trident and then it's my mocks and then there's the GCSE's). I will try to get this fic finished, just try and be patient. Please review me, you give me strength! 


	7. Gone

Tangled Web  
Gone  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon.  
I've tried to put Sora across quite well in this chapter without vilifying her but I don't know how well that's gone.  
Rats. I just discovered that actually, Matt and Sora have a girl and a boy rather than two boys. Curses! Oh well, never mind. It's all A Girl Named Goo's fault, she was the one who said two boys!  
  
"Matt?"  
Matt looked round. He was cooking stir-fry in the kitchen. Ken had gone to stay with a friend from his work and Matt was making food for himself and Tai. Tai was standing at the doorway, watching him, his face pale and nervous.  
"Yes?"  
Tai swallowed.  
"Matt I...."  
Matt waited.  
"I'm sorry," Tai blurted suddenly "About what I said. About everything. What I said was wrong. What's happened between us...it is my fault really. Not you. I'm so sorry. I know I'm a terrible person."  
Matt abandoned his cooking to hug Tai close to him. Tai hugged him back.  
"Matt, I never meant to hurt anybody," he said "You know that right? I never wanted to hurt anybody ever."  
"I know," Matt said "I do know that Tai. You're the best person I know. You've never tried to hurt anybody deliberately. You just...you've been silly. But I know you don't want to hurt anybody."  
"What am I going to do?" Tai asked "I'm losing everyone Matt! I'm losing my son, my friends....the only person I'm not losing is you. And I keep doing my best to shove you away!"  
Matt didn't know what to say. Everything was far too confusing.  
"I understand," he said.  
Tai sighed.  
"I'm so sorry," he whispered "I saw what happened to Ken and I...I just felt so awful." "What's happened with Ken and Yolei is not your fault," Matt said firmly "That is between them."  
"I know," Tai said "But...oh I don't know. What if Ken has to battle for his kids?"  
"I don't think so," Matt said slowly "I think that Ken and Yolei will see what's happened here and come to a more civilised arrangement."  
Tai smiled slightly, looking hopeful.  
"You think?"  
"I think."  
Tai smiled and rested his head safely on Matt's chest.  
"Thank you Matt."  
"It's all right Tai."  
Tai sighed. Then he sniffed.  
"Um Matt?"  
"Yeah?"  
"The stir-fry is burning."  
"SHIT!" Matt screamed, leaping at the frying pan. Tai couldn't help cracking up as he watched Matt try to rescue his stir-fry, cursing loudly and dancing around. For the first time in a while, he felt the cheerful bubbly feeling that he'd used to have a lot.  
* * * *  
Kari was busy brushing Shinseru's hair when the phone rang.  
"Davis, get it!" she yelled.  
She heard Davis answer the phone. Then he suddenly called "Kari!"  
"Davis, I'm busy!"  
"Kari, I think this is very important."  
Frowning, Kari went to the phone.  
* * * *  
"Burnt stir-fry," Tai said.  
"If you hadn't distracted me," Matt said "It wouldn't have got burned."  
Tai snickered wickedly. Matt crossed his eyes.  
"You're so childish," Tai said.  
Matt grinned and tried to separate burned inedible stir-fry from the slightly more edible stir-fry. Tai watched him. Then the phone rang.  
"You answer," both chorused. Tai shrugged and answered. Since it was his house after all....  
"All right Taichi, where are they?"  
"Huh? What? Ritsuko?" Tai said.  
"Of course it's me, now where are the boys?"  
Tai blinked.  
"Ritsuko, what are you talking about?" he demanded.  
"Sento! Your son! And Tanoshii and Shinji, your 'lover's' sons! Where have you taken them?"  
"I haven't taken them anywhere!" Tai said confusedly.  
"You mean...it isn't you? You swear it isn't you?"  
"Ritsuko, what's going on?" Tai demanded confusedly, a sudden cold feeling growing in his stomach.  
He heard a slightly muffled sob.  
"Taichi, they're gone! The boys have vanished!"  
Tai felt the world spin.  
"All three them?" he whispered.  
"They didn't come home! I thought....thought maybe you..."  
Tai noticed that Matt was staring anxiously at him, his eyes big.  
"Oh God," Tai whispered softly "Oh my God."  
"Tai?" Matt whispered "Tai, what's going on?"  
Tai flapped a hand at him.  
"Ritsuko, where are you?"  
"At Kari's. We phoned her first to see if they were with her. TK and his wife are here too. We tried them as well."  
It hurt that Ritsuko had tried other people before him but Tai brushed it off. Nothing matter at that moment as much as finding his son and Matt's sons.  
"We're coming over," he said "Phone the police."  
He put the phone down before Ritsuko could say anything. Matt was staring at him, his eyes big.  
"Tai, what's....?"  
"The boys have vanished," Tai cut him off quickly "We're going to Kari's."  
"Vanished?" Matt croaked.  
Tai nodded.  
"Come on," he ordered.  
The two of them raced out of the flat.  
* * * *  
Mujaki and Shinseru peered cautiously out from Shinseru's room. Sayo was asleep in a travel cot by the bed. Kari, Sora, Davis, TK, Shinoko and Ritsuko were all talking at once. It was pretty chaotic. The doorbell rang, cutting them off. Kari went to answer it.  
A few seconds later, Tai and Matt had hurtled into the room.  
"What happened?" Tai demanded sharply.  
"When I got home from work, the door was unlocked," Ritsuko said "I didn't think anything of it. Nothing was disturbed as far as I could see and I often forget to lock my door. I waited for Sento to come back from school but he was late. I figured that he'd gone to Sora's. But then Sora phoned me and said that she needed Tanoshii and Shinji back! They've all gone!"  
She started to cry again. Shinoko hugged her soothingly.  
"Did you try the school?" Matt asked.  
"Of course!" Sora snapped at him "We aren't stupid!"  
"And what did they say?" Matt asked with exaggerated patience.  
"That all three boys had left school early," Sora whispered.  
"They've run away," Tai said softly "Oh God, where the hell can they be?"  
"Have you phoned the police?" Matt asked.  
"Yes. They'll be coming over," Sora said.  
"Why would they run away?" Ritsuko asked.  
"Aside from the fact that they're all miserable? Gee, let me think!" Matt snapped.  
"Excuse me?" Sora said coldly "My sons are not miserable."  
"I beg to differ!" Matt snapped back "The boys have been upset since we split up!"  
"And who's fault is that?" Sora shouted "You started this!"  
"Me! Actually Sora, YOU slept with Tai first!"  
"But you were the one who left!"  
"Because you got pregnant with another man's child! AND you didn't even see fit to tell me!"  
"Guys," TK began gently "Maybe now isn't the best time for this...."  
He was completely ignored. Matt and Sora were glaring at each other. Sora's fists were clenched.  
"Are you blaming me because my sons have run away?"  
"Stop calling them your sons! They're our sons!"  
"You gave up rights when you walked out!"  
"I didn't give up rights to my children! YOU'RE the one who's tried to cut me out!"  
"Don't you dare blame this on me Yamato! Okay, I've done some bad things but at least I married you because I loved you, NOT because I wanted to prove that I wasn't gay!"  
Matt flushed. This was something he couldn't deny.  
"At least Matt never tried to get revenge by trying to hurt someone else," Tai spoke up, his voice icy "At least Matt never tried to prove anyone an unfit parent!"  
"You ARE an unfit parent!" Ritsuko shouted, jerking to her feet "I've heard what Sento's said! You've been leaving him alone since he was seven years old!"  
"That's not true!" Tai yelled "I did that ONCE and that was for ten seconds while a bought a bottle of milk! He was sick at the time and couldn't come with me! Okay?"  
"How about you've been endorsing promiscuousness to him?" Ritsuko demanded "He asks all sorts of questions about things that he shouldn't know anything about at that age!"  
"I have not been endorsing promiscuousness!"  
"You've been kissed millions of other people in front of him! You know what he said once? That they were 'only boyfriends and girlfriends' so why should they ever come back!"  
Tai swallowed slightly.  
"He'll grow out of that," he said "He'll understand."  
"Things that happen when we're young affect us later in life!" Ritsuko snapped "It might affect him forever and you don't even care!"  
"Of course I care!"  
"How about when you just dumped him while you were mooning over your precious Ishida?"  
Tai flushed.  
"That was wrong," he said "I know that! But it doesn't make me an unfit parent!"  
"What's your definition then?" Ritsuko demanded.  
"At least I never let my son get hurt!" Tai yelled "At least he never wanted to run away from me!"  
"How dare you? He's only run away because he's upset!"  
"And who's fault is that?"  
"I'm only doing what's best for my son!"  
"Well he doesn't seem to agree does he?"  
Kari looked at TK who had his head in his hands. Davis was looking between his once close friends, his eyes filling with tears. Over his shoulder, Kari spotted Mujaki and Shinseru staring at them. Mujaki was crying.   
Kari scowled. She got up and walked into her room, rummaging through her drawers until she found her keepsakes box.  
With her old whistle in.  
Taking it out, she walked back into the room. Putting it to her lips, she blew with all her might.  
It worked. Everyone shut up instantly.  
"Good," Kari said "Now STAY that way!"  
She hadn't felt this angry for ages. Even when Tai had first told her about this, she hadn't got this mad.  
"What the HELL is WRONG with you people?" she yelled "Your children are gone! They could be anywhere! They could be under some bridge freezing to death and all you can do it lay blame? Well let me tell you! You are ALL to blame! And I'm SICK of you all blaming each other and not taking your own share!"  
She glowered round at them.  
"Now," she said "Some of us are going to go and look. Some of us will stay for when the police arrive. We're going to arrange it WITHOUT any of you fighting. UNDERSTAND?"  
There was a very nervous pause.  
"Okay," Tai said meekly.  
"Good," Kari said "I shall stay to handle the rest of you. Tai, Sora, Davis, TK. Would you four go and start looking? The rest of us will stay here."  
Everyone nodded and left. In the apartment, there was a bitter silence that lasted until the police arrived.  
* * * *  
"Sento?" Tai yelled "Tanoshii? Shinji?"  
His voice echoed but there was no answer. Tai hadn't expected there to be. He'd been wandering for what felt like hours but was in reality less than an hour and calling for the boys.  
Sinking down against a building, Tai wiped his face. Tears were running down it again.  
"Sento," he whispered "Come on Sento. If I find you, I promise that I'll never let anything happen to you again. I promise you won't ever be hurt by anyone. I promise!"  
Wiping his face again, he scrambled up and continued searching.  
"Sento? Tanoshii? Shinji?"  
* * * *  
"That's Sayo crying," Ritsuko said, preparing to stand up.  
"I'll go," Matt said. A half-smile twisted his face "She's my daughter after all."  
His daughter. His mouth quirked slightly at the joke. His name was on the birth certificate. And he'd believed she was his for several happy months. But now...now he knew the truth.  
Banishing the thoughts, he went into the room where Shinseru and Mujaki were looking at the crying girl uncertainly. Matt lifted her up and rocked her, feeding her with an already preparing bottle, soothing her.  
'If only she was really my daughter...'  
Matt swallowed, banishing his thoughts. If he kept thinking, he'd cry and he didn't want to...  
A tear ran down his face. Then another. Tanoshii and Shinji. Where were they? What was happening to them? They'd been gone for hours now. It was dark outside. What if...? What if...?  
"Uncle Matt?"  
Matt swallowed at looked round at the boys.  
"Sorry," he said "I'm okay."  
He could feel another tear running down his face and struggled to stop any more.  
"Everyone's really worried about Sento and Tanoshii and Shinji aren't they?" Mujaki said softly.  
Matt nodded. "Yes. But it'll be okay. We'll find them. We will," he said firmly.  
Shinseru and Mujaki looked at each other.  
"Auntie Sora was crying," Mujaki said.  
"Yes," Matt said. "So are you."  
Matt nodded, blushing.  
"Can't help it," he said "I miss my boys. But we're all being silly because they will be fine. They have to be."  
"What will you do then?" Shinseru asked.  
"What?" Matt said.  
"When you find them," Shinseru said "What will you do?"  
"Hug them," Matt said with a small smile "I'll hug them tighter than ever before."  
"Will they be in trouble?"  
Matt thought about it.  
"Maybe a very little," he said.  
"And if they come back, will everyone stop fighting?"  
"Maybe," Matt said "I hope so. Maybe we can stop fighting now."  
Shinseru and Mujaki exchanged looks again. Matt carefully laid Sayo down in her carry basket and wiped his eyes.  
"Don't worry boys," he said "It'll all..."  
"Uncle Matt?"  
"Yes?"  
"We know where they are."  
Matt stared at them.  
"What?"  
"We know where they are," Shinseru repeated "Sento told us. He said that we're insurance."  
Matt's mouth was open. Then he knelt down and gripped Shinseru's shoulders tight enough to make Shinseru yelp.  
"Shinseru," Matt said very softly "Where are they?"  
* * * *  
Tai was heading despairingly back to the house when he saw Matt coming towards him, Shinseru running with him.  
"Matt?"  
"Shin knows where they are!" Matt panted "Come on!"  
Tai promptly did an about-turn.  
"Where?"  
"Just come on."  
They followed Shinseru who led them all the way through town to an apartment block.  
"I used to live here," Matt said slowly "When I was young."  
"Tanoshii remembered," Shinseru said quietly "That's why they choose it. Come on."  
He led them all the way up to the roof and pointed to the water tank. Matt could see three small figures huddled underneath it.  
"Tanoshii! Shinji!"  
"Sento!" Tai yelled.  
The figures wriggled.  
"Traitor!" Matt heard someone - probably Sento - shout at Shinseru. Tai didn't seem to care. Moving forward, he grabbed one of the emerging figures and swept him into a hug. Matt rushed over to the other two.  
"Boys!"  
He grabbed them himself. Shinji started to cry but Tanoshii remained stiff. Matt felt a pang, remembering himself at that age and his reactions to his parents. He felt a horrible pang of guilt and wanted to scream with rage and misery. He'd repeated his parents mistakes. He was a terrible person.  
"Why did you run away?" he croaked at them, still hugging them "Idiots! You could have tried talking."  
Tanoshii snorted. Sento gave a scornful laugh from Tai's arms. Matt and Tai exchanged looks.  
"Come on," Matt said "Lets get you lot to Auntie Kari's. Everyone's going spare over you three."  
"Are we in big trouble?" Shinji asked nervously.  
Matt didn't answer, just scooped his son up and grabbed Tanoshii's hand before he could move away.  
"Got all your stuff?"  
"Yes."  
"Then let's go," Tai said. He hadn't put Sento down despite Sento's cross struggles "We need to get back quick! Everyone's going crazy!"  
Matt nodded and together, they all hurried out of the building, heading for Kari's house.  
* * * *  
"You mean Matt just rushed out?" Sora said "Taking Shinseru with him?"  
Kari nodded.  
"He said something about knowing where they are," she said "I'd ask Mujaki but he's not talking."  
"You mean maybe we've found them?" Sora said hopefully.  
"No maybe about it," Matt said. "Tanoshii! Shinji!"  
"Sento!"  
Sora and Ritsuko sprang over, seizing the boys and pulling them into hugs. Kari went over to Shinseru. He was looking unhappy. "Sento said I was a traitor," he muttered.  
"You aren't," Kari said firmly "You've been a very good, very sensible little boy and I'm proud of you."  
She hugged him.  
"Now, run along to Mujaki and tell him everything's all right," she ordered "Go on."  
Shinseru scampered off and Kari looked at the boys. They looked dirty and unhappy. Tanoshii and Sento were both wearing looks of stone-hardness on their faces. Kari winced. This was going to be very difficult indeed.  
"I think," she said, using her 'teacher-voice' "That you three boys need a bath, something to eat and bed. We can talk about this in the morning."  
Shinji looked like he liked the idea. Sento snorted.  
"Bed where?"  
Kari could see his point.  
"Here," she said, very quickly and very firmly "You're all spending the night here. Ritsuko - phone the police and tell them we've found them. Tai - go and put Shinseru to bed. Matt - go and find Davis and TK. Shinoko - would you mind much getting out some spare bedding from my closet? Thank you. Now come on you three. Baths."  
She threw the others a look and pulled the boy into her bathroom.  
"Are we in trouble?" Shinji asked her timidly "Daddy wouldn't say."  
"You're in some trouble, yes," Kari said gently, helping him off with his clothes "You shouldn't have run away. Running away never solves anything."  
She ignored the small sound that Sento made and calmly ran a bath for them all. Despite their stubbornness, Sento and Tanoshii were quite clearly worn out and they nearly fell asleep in their bath. Kari practically had to carry them into Shinseru's room and they were asleep before she'd tucked them into sleeping bags that Shinoko had kindly found for her. Kari left the room and looked at the adults, all around the table.  
"Shinoko and Mujaki have gone," TK said quietly "I said I'd stay and make sure everything was finished up here."  
Kari smiled at him.  
"Thanks TK."  
She suddenly felt worn out. Davis came over and wrapped an arm round her shoulders. Kari took a deep breath and exhaled, then looked at the others.  
"I figured you might want to stay," she said "You can go home if you want."  
"I'll stay," Ritsuko said immediately.  
"I'd better," Sora said "Sayo's still asleep."  
"Then perhaps we'd better go," Tai said quietly "What time should we come back in the morning?"  
"Never," Ritsuko mumbled.  
Tai flinched but ignored the remark.  
"No earlier than 9:00," Kari said "We won't do anything without you, don't worry."  
She hugged her brother. Tai hugged her back.  
"Kar," he muttered "Thanks."  
"It's all right," Kari said.  
Matt hugged her too before they left. TK left too. Kari set Ritsuko and Sora up with beds, then went into her room and dropped onto the bed, closing her eyes.  
"Kari?"  
Davis sat next to her and gave her a hug. Kari let all her exhaustion catch up with her and cried.  
  
End of Part 7.  
YAY! Only one, possibly two more parts to go and then this fic is DONE! YAYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	8. What's Done

Tangled Web  
What's Done.  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon.  
Taito bits! Again.  
  
Matt woke in the morning, conscious of a distinct feeling of nervousness. Tai was cuddled up to him, his face very pale. For a moment, Matt was completely confused. Then the memories of the previous night came back and he shuddered.  
Carefully, he slipped out of bed leaving Tai to sleep. They hadn't slept until very late. First they'd had to get home and then both of them had been so bothered that neither had wanted to lie down and sleep. They'd ended up staying up even longer and watching TV until finally they'd felt wound down enough to sleep.  
Matt went into the kitchen and began making himself some breakfast, trying very hard not to think about the confrontation that they were going to have with the boys that day. He knew that it was going to be hideous. Sento and Tanoshii were not feeling kindly inclined to any of their parents and no wonder.  
Matt over-poured the milk in his cereal bowl and swore. All he could think about was himself when he'd been younger, angry and bitter. How his relationships with his parents had never really recovered, particularly the relationship with his mother. And how it had made him so cynical.  
Matt had always sworn that he'd never put his children through what he'd gone through. And now he was worse than his own parents. Far worse.  
With another depressed sigh, Matt carried his breakfast into the living room and sat on the sofa, nibbling the cereal unhungrily, trying to decide when to wake Tai. The decision was taken from his hands when Tai emerged.  
"Matt. Hi," he said, sounding drowsy "What time is it?"  
"Around 8:30," Matt said "Kari said not to arrive before nine."  
"I remember," Tai said "God I'm tired. I don't want to do this."  
"Me neither," Matt said "You need something to eat."  
"Yay."  
Tai wandered into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with another bowl of cereal. He ate his with more appetite than Matt had, then finished Matt's off while Matt showered and dressed, still desperately trying not to brood. Then Tai got readied and they headed for Kari and Davis's apartment.  
  
* * * *  
  
The atmosphere was tense in the Motomiya apartment. Sento, Tanoshii and Shinji were refusing to speak to Shinseru who was devastated by this. He wouldn't believe Kari's reassurances that he'd done the right thing by telling where the boys had gone. Sora and Ritsuko had already arrived and were talking quietly. Kari watched all this, then pulled Davis aside.  
"Davis," she said "I want you to take Shinseru out, okay? This is not going to be pretty and I don't want him listening to all of this. And he needs cheering up. He feels so guilty."  
Davis frowned.  
"Are you sure you can manage?" he asked worriedly "TK's not here to help and you know what this lot've been like when they get together!"  
"I can manage," Kari said firmly "And they'd better get their damn acts together! This is serious! The boys could have got in REAL trouble. We have to sort this out. It's gone too far already."  
She shuddered, then smiled.  
"Don't worry. Just have a nice time with Shinseru."  
Davis nodded.  
"Okay," he said "I promise. That's something I'm good at anyway!"  
Kari laughed.  
"I know," she said "Just make sure that Shinseru's happy."  
Davis nodded as the doorbell rang.  
"Tai and Matt," Kari said "Right - off you go."  
Davis went into the living room to get Shinseru as Kari went to answer the door. Matt and Tai were standing there, looking tired and haggered. Tai gave his sister a weak smile.  
"How are they?" he asked.  
Kari paused.  
"Quiet," she said eventually "Angry. Come on in."  
They walked in. Ritsuko and Sora emerged and regarded Matt and Tai silently. The men looked back at them as Davis and Shinseru appeared.  
"Right," Davis said "We'll see you later. Good luck."  
He gave Kari a kiss and an encouraging smile. Kari grinned back and ruffled Shinseru's hair.  
"Enjoy yourself sweetheart," she said.  
Shinseru nodded, still looking unhappy. He and Davis walked out of the door. Kari sighed.  
"Right," she said "Let's get this over with."  
Sento, Tanoshii and Shinji were sitting in a stiff line on the couch. Sento and Tanoshii were glowering, Shinji was looking upset. He hung his head when the adults came in and sat down around them.  
"Well?" Tai asked "Do you want to say anything?"  
"No," Sento said defiantly, crossing his arms and scowling.  
"No?" Ritsuko said, her eyebrows arching "Nothing at all? You ran away, you caused us all hours of worry, you don't even apologise, you could have been DEAD..."  
Sento turned his face away and said nothing. Tanoshii bit his lip. Shinji stared at his lap.  
"Why?" Sora said "Why did you run away?"  
Silence. Kari sighed.  
"Listen," she said "If you don't talk, nothing's going to get solved. Just say what you feel."  
"You don't care what we think!" Tanoshii snapped "You never have!"  
"Darling, that's not true!" Sora said.  
"Course it is," Sento said "Adults don't care. They just do what they want and who cares about us."  
"Sento!" Tai said, sounding shocked "We all care about you! Where have you got that idea from?"  
"You I expect," Ritsuko said harshly "I TOLD you that you were neglecting him!"  
Tai gave her a furious look.  
"Listen Ritsuko!" he began hotly. Kari hastily cut in.  
"Sento, why don't you answer your father's question?" she suggested gently.  
Sento shrugged. He still wasn't looking at anyone.  
"If you cared, you'd already know," he muttered.  
"Caring doesn't make us mind-readers," Matt said softly "It may seem like we should be but adults aren't infallible you know."  
"Isn't it obvious?" Tanoshii snapped at him.  
Matt swallowed.  
"You're angry because of everything that's happened recently," he said "You're angry because your mother and I have split up and because Tai and Ritsuko are fighting."  
"Well if you already knew, why did you ask?" Sento said sniffily.  
"Sento!" Tai said "Don't be so rude!"  
Sento scowled and twisted his neck, trying to turn away even more. Shinji sniffed.  
"Why do you have to fight all the time?" he whispered, sounding tearful "Why can't everyone just be friends? I want to live with Daddy again and have everyone be happy!"  
"Oh Shinji," Sora said gently "I know. But that can't happen. We can be happy - but Daddy and I can't be happy together. That's why we split up."  
"But you aren't happy apart!" Sento snapped.  
"We will be," Matt said firmly "When we get used to things."  
Sento gave another scornful laugh.  
"That's it Sento!" Tai exploded "You are going to sit there and you are going to say exactly what you are thinking because I'll be damned if you're going to keep behaving like this! No one else is going to say ANYTHING until you give your opinion!"  
Sento said nothing. The silence dragged on and on. Sento began wriggling slightly, the silence obviously bothering him. Eventually he looked at Kari, tears glimmering in his eyes.  
"Why does everyone have to be so horrible?" he blurted "Mum and Dad...and Uncle Matt and Aunt Sora. They all hate each other. It's all because of her isn't it?"  
He pointed in the direction of his bedroom where Sayo was sleeping. He saw the rapid exchange of looks that passed among the adults.  
"It IS," he said, almost triumphantly "I knew it was! It's all her fault!"  
There was another pause where the boys all stared accusingly at the adults. Then Matt suddenly took a deep breath.  
"Boys," he said "Sayo wasn't the reason that we separated. The thing was...we just weren't very happy together. You know that I and Tai were going out with each other?"  
The boys all nodded.  
"Well, you aren't supposed to go out with other people when you're married. It's not allowed. When Sayo arrived...well, babies are tiring. It made Sora and I realise that we just couldn't be happy together. Not really."  
He was still lying but he was dammed if he was going to tell the boys the truth. He didn't know how he'd voice it anyway. What was he going to say, that Sayo was Tai's baby? That would never work and just cause more rifts between them all. That was a lie that was going to stay in place until Sayo was grown up.  
"I swear, it wasn't Sayo's fault," he said firmly.  
A silence followed, a mixture of uncertainly and obstinatance. Sento glanced at them out of the corner of his eyes.  
"Why are you trying to take me away from Dad?" he asked Ritsuko accusingly "Why are you trying to make me unhappy?"  
Ritsuko scowled.  
"He wasn't looking after you properly!" she said, her voice harsh. Sora nudged her gently.  
"Your mother was worried about you," she said quietly "She was also angry. When people are angry, they do silly things."  
Ritsuko looked slightly shocked. She'd obviously expected Sora to back her up. Sora gave her a slightly apologetic look.  
"Your mother didn't realise how unhappy you'd be," she said "She wanted things to be the best they could be."  
"But you never noticed how miserable I was!" Sento said, glaring accusingly at his mother "You didn't care that I wanted to see Dad and go home. You just got angry."  
His mother sighed.  
"Sometimes we don't always know what's best for each other," she said "And sometimes we don't know what's best for ourselves. I was trying to do what's best for you."  
Tai snorted softly. Kari put an elbow in his side. Ritsuko ignored him completely.  
"Sento, I didn't mean to hurt you," she said, nearly in tears "I only wanted to help you."  
"And you?" Tanoshii asked Sora, looking at her with his hurt blue eyes "Did YOU just want what was best?"  
"Yes," Sora said quietly.  
"For you or for us?"  
Sento nodded his agreement. Shinji nodded too and huddled closer to his brother. He was obviously scared and confused by everything. He was so young Matt reflected. He could see himself and TK so clearly in his sons that it scared him. And Sento...who was Sento? In a strange way, Sento reminded him of a mixture of Davis and Ken. He almost grinned at the idea, then pushed the thought away and focused on the boys again.  
Sora was still speaking, trying to explain.  
"I wanted what's best for all of us," she said. Then she looked at Matt "At least - what I thought might be best for all of us."  
"How could it be best if we were all miserable?" Tanoshii shouted.  
Kari quietly intervened before any one could get angry.  
"I think that we've all made some mistakes," she said "But you should have told us this before boys, you know you should. Getting angry and running away doesn't help. Talking is always better."  
"They wouldn't listen," Sento muttered.  
"People only listen if you talk sensibly," Kari said tartly "You can't just shout and wail and hope someone will sit and translate. Talking it through maturely is what gets results."  
"Are we getting punished?" Shinji asked timidly "What's going to happen?"  
"We'll talk about that later," Kari said quietly "In the meanwhile, you three need to apologise for what you did."  
Tai couldn't help feeling irritated that his little sister was busy sorting out his life for him. It was very, very annoying. Trust Kari to be better at all this than him.  
He turned his attention to the boys. Shinji was hanging his head.  
"We're sorry," he whispered.  
Everyone looked at Sento and Tanoshii.  
"Yeah," Sento said.  
"Sorry," Tanoshii said.  
Tai raised an eyebrow at Sento. He didn't count that as an apology and Sento knew it. Tai wasn't expecting a response but to his surprise, Sento's defiance suddenly seemed to ooze out of him.  
"Sorry," he whispered before bursting into tears. Tai and Ritsuko both reached for him at the same time and then glared at each other.  
"And we're going to apologise to you," Matt said suddenly, remembering something he'd always craved off his own parents, something he'd never got.  
Sento's tears stopped abruptly and all the children gaped at him. Matt grinned.  
"Well, we've hardly been the best behaved bunch," he pointed out "It's only fair. I'm sorry you three. I'll try harder."  
Tai nodded, taking Matt's lead.  
"Yeah," he said "I've been stupid but I'll be better. I promise."  
Sora and Ritsuko mumbled their apologies, Ritsuko perhaps a trifle more reluctantly than everyone else but they were still clear. Shinji smiled hopefully. Even Tanoshii and Sento looked more hopeful.  
"Now," Kari said "We're going to go and leave the adults to talk alone. They've got some things that they BADLY need to sort out. Let's go and play with Sayo. You'll see babies aren't so bad."  
The boys obediently got up. Kari looked at the others.  
"And don't you DARE fight," she whispered "You talk like adults and GET THIS SORTED OUT. Understand?"  
They all nodded meekly and Kari led the three boys out, closing the door tight behind her.  
"Will it work?" Tanoshii asked.  
"If it doesn't, I'll know why," Kari said grimly.  
The boys made mental notes to themselves that Auntie Kari was NOT someone to get angry.  
  
* * * *  
  
Inside the room, there was an awkward silence as everyone started at each other uncomfortably.  
"Do you think we handled that okay?" Tai said as last, just wanting to break the silence.  
"I think so," Sora said slowly "At least...I hope so. Time will tell."  
"We haven't handled much else right," Matt said. He got up and walked to the window, not wanting to look at anybody "What are we going to do now?"  
Another silence prevailed. Tai bit his nails absently.  
"What's important are the children," Sora said, trying to sound rational "We need them happy."  
"Sento was happy with me," Tai said.  
Ritsuko opened her mouth but Sora laid a hand on her shoulder.  
"That's true," she said "But we need to work out a compromise Tai. Ritsuko has a right to be angry about your parenting skills. You have to admit, a lot of this is your fault."  
Tai opened his mouth to deny it, then realised that Sora, Matt and Ritsuko were all staring at him and sighed.  
"All right," he said crossly "Yes, it's all my fault. But that didn't give you a right to accuse me of unfit parenting!"  
"See it from my view!" Ritsuko said, sounding calm but slightly strained "I get a phone call and discover that you've been seeing other men and other women quite dramatically since our split, that you had managed to split up a marriage because of sleeping with both of the people in it - what was I supposed to think? And Sora told me about some of the things that you did while you were moping over Matt. You certainly didn't come across as being a good parent!"  
Tai sighed.  
"Couldn't you have just talked to me about it?" he said.  
"That's my fault," Sora said, sounding ashamed "I was so angry with both of you that I convinced Ritsuko it was the right thing to do. It was my fault."  
"We figured as much," Matt said "So what now? Will you drop the charges?"  
Ritsuko sighed.  
"Yes," she said eventually "What's happening is making Sento unhappy and that's not what I want. But this isn't over Taichi. I'm not happy about how you are looking after our son and I want to spend more time with him. He sees me as a stranger and I don't want that."  
"Fair enough," Tai said promptly "But I'm not changing who I am Ritsuko. I don't see why I should."  
Ritsuko nodded.  
"Will they let you drop the allegations?" Tai asked, suddenly looking worried.  
"Without my charge, they have to," Ritsuko said "They will probably keep an eye on you but they can't stop me. Just watch your step."  
Tai smiled at her. Ritsuko nodded. She looked at Sora and Matt.  
"What about you two?" she asked.  
Sora looked at Matt. Matt sighed.  
"I don't know," he said, looking at Sora "Sora, all I want is to be allowed to see my children and love whoever I want to love."  
Sora nodded.  
"What about Sayo?" she asked.  
Silence. Matt ran his hands through his hair.  
"What do you want from me Sora?" he asked, his voice sounding tired "She's not my daughter. Whenever I see her...I see you and Tai. It hurts me."  
"Matt, you have to see her!" Sora said desperately "I can't just send the boys to you! It would split the family apart! What's already happened between them is bad enough! I need them to see that Sayo is their sister! She is your daughter Matt - or was. You loved her!"  
"But Sora, I can't just look at her and pretend she's mine!" Matt said "She even looks like Tai! I want to love her and have her as mine but I look at her and I see Tai's betrayal!"  
That stung Sora although she tried to hide it. Tai's betrayal. That was what mattered to Matt. Tai's betrayal. Not her own.  
She knew then that he'd never really loved her. It bit deep and she hung her head, blinking away tears before she spoke again.  
"Will you still be living with Tai?" she asked softly.  
"I...I suppose so," Matt said "If he'll have me."  
Sora looked at Tai. He looked at her, then hung his head.  
"I'll have you Matt," he said "You know I will."  
Sora nodded.  
"Sayo is your daughter," she said "Both of yours. Can't you make yourself look at her and see a girl Matt? Tai's daughter. A little girl to love."  
Matt sighed.  
"I'll try," he said at last "I want to try Sora. I want to love her. She's a beautiful baby. But..."  
He shook his head.  
"It's not easy."  
"It's never going to be easy," Sora said "Nothing is."  
Matt gave her a small smile, looking depressed.  
"I'll try," he said again.  
There was another pause. Tai tried to think if there was anything else that they needed to sort out. He sighed.  
"I think we're done," he said eventually "Well - we're done here. Ritsuko and I need to sort some things out. And so do you two. But..."  
"That's for later," Sora said.  
"Sento will have to stay with me until the charges are completely dropped," Ritsuko said "But then...I suppose he can live with you."  
Tai couldn't stop the big grin that crossed his face as they walked out to tell Kari that they were done.  
  
* * * *  
  
That night, Matt and Tai lay curled up together in bed. It was the first time that Matt had felt really happy there for a long time.  
At least, he felt mostly happy. But part of him was still troubled.  
"Tai?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Do you think we can be properly happy together?"  
Tai looked at him. Matt stared back seriously, uncertainly. Tai sighed.  
"What do you mean?" he asked uncertainly.  
Matt shifted his position slightly.  
"Well," he said slowly "So much has happened. Our ex-wives - or soon to be ex-wife in my case - our children...Sayo."  
Tai flinched. He'd known it would come back to Sayo.  
"Can you manage her?" he asked softly "Are you going to be able to cope."  
Matt looked at the pillows, silvered by the moonlight.  
"I don't know," he said "I'm trying to think of her as yours and Ritsuko's I suppose. Like Sento. Not as mine. But she'll grow up thinking she's mine and be unhappy if I treat her any differently than Tanoshii and Shinji."  
"Do you intend to treat Sento differently?" Tai asked.  
"No! But there's always some difference isn't there? The way you treat your children and somebody else's. It doesn't matter how hard you try, there'll always be a difference."  
"Rubbish," Tai said firmly "It's not like that at all. You're just worrying about it. Look, I know you Matt. You'll treat Sento like he's yours once you're used to living with him. And that's how it'll be with Sayo. Trust me."  
Matt looked at him and Tai realised that maybe that wasn't a phrase to use for a while.  
"You don't trust me?" he said in a small voice.  
"I don't know," Matt said looking away "I don't know what I think. Tai, I trust you, I know that but..."  
"But not 100%?" Tai guessed.  
Matt sighed.  
"Sorry."  
"That's okay," Tai said "I hardly deserve it."  
He gave Matt a kiss on the forehead.  
"And I'll grow on you!"  
Matt smiled.  
"Like mould!"  
Tai hugged him. Matt closed his eyes, his worries somewhat abated. Things would be difficult, he knew that. And his sons...he worried about how this would have affected them in the long run. But there was no point to that. Time would tell. It always did.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Here you are Sento," Ritsuko said "Home."  
Sento scrambled out of the car.  
"You don't have to drive me home Mum," he said, repeating a long recurrent argument "I am fifteen, I can walk."  
His mother choose to ignore this statement, like she always did.  
"Be good for your father," she said "I'll see you next week."  
Sento waved the car off, then walked upstairs to the apartment, unlocking the door.  
"Hey Sento!"  
Sento jumped, then grinned. He'd forgotten that Tanoshii, Shinji and Sayo were coming for their week with Matt. Sayo ran to him for a hug. She was a pretty seven year old with long dark hair and a big infectious smile. He lifted her up and grinned at Tanoshii who looked almost exactly like Matt had when he was fifteen. Shinji had auburn hair and brown eyes like his mother, but his face resembled his father's more. He waved slightly. At thirteen, he was far too mature to want a hug.  
"Dad?" Sento yelled "Hey Dad?"  
His father appeared, grinned.  
"Hello!" he said, giving Sento a quick hug "Enjoy yourself at your mothers?"  
"Yeah," Sento said, grinning "She took me to the cinema and we stayed in a really posh hotel and went to loads of really swanky restaurants..."  
His father swatted him. Sento always pretended that his mother spoiled him rotten while his father was evil. If he was honest, his father treated him more often than his mother did. It came from having more money.  
"Oh no, here's trouble!"  
Sento turned to grin at Matt as he walked through the door. Sayo leaped out of his arms and into her fathers. Matt hugged her, grinning at Sento, then put her down to hug Tanoshii and Shinji, both of whom resisted furiously to being hugged, like they always did. They were 'too old' for hugs. Matt never listened to their demands. He squeezed them both, then went to kiss Tai hello. Sento watched. It had been six years since the chaos where his mother had tried to take him away from his father. Things had changed but some things were the same. And Sento had never forgotten what had happened. He and Tanoshii sometimes discussed it together, although rarely around Shinji and never around Sayo. Both boys had reached their own conclusions about the truth of what had happened and neither had ever told anyone else. It had taken almost a year before Sento had really trusted his parents and far longer before he'd been able to talk civilly to Sora. And Matt for that matter. Sento still distrusted both Sora and Matt, although not on the surface. Superficially, he knew that nothing his parents had done had been deliberately to hurt him and that they now had put it all behind them. But further down, he often doubted it. He'd already decided never to have a family of his own. He didn't want to put anyone through the hell that he'd gone through. No one deserved that. He knew that Tanoshii had reached the same conclusions as he had, although Tanoshii wanted children. He'd already sworn that he would never separate from his wife or at least, not until the children had left home. No one knew what Shinji wanted. Shinji rarely talked about things like that. He lived in his own little world most of the time and didn't seem to want to let anyone in it. Sento knew that this worried adults but he himself understood why Shinji craved that safety and as far as he was concerned, Shinji could live in it forever if he wanted.  
Sento had a tendency to be rather uncaring about others.  
"Go and dump your stuff," his father ordered "Then you can get on with your chores."  
"Unpaid slave labour," Sento said.  
"Unpaid! You get more pocket money than I used to! Anyway, the others will help you."  
"We will?" Shinji said.  
"Yes," Matt said "Now shut up Sento and dump your stuff!"  
Sento snorted and went into his room. Tanoshii was currently occupying the bottom bunk, his stuff piled there. Sento threw his own things onto his bed, then went out to help his father, humming to himself.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Sweet aren't they?" Tai said to Matt.  
They were cooking the dinner, watching as Sayo laughed at her older brothers who were trying to vacuum and dust at the same time and failing pretty miserably.  
"They worry me," Matt said "But yes."  
Tai rolled his eyes.  
"Why do they worry you?" he asked.  
Matt said nothing. Tai knew why, it was a stupid question. Tai sighed and looked at the children properly. Sayo was what she looked like - a healthy, lively child. Sento...he was sweet but...cold and cynical. Tanoshii shared some of those traits, as well as a deep rooted uncertainty and mistrust. Shinji...who knew what Shinji thought or felt? His emotions were deep hidden inside.  
Tai sighed. He still blamed himself for what had happened and knew that Matt, Sora and Ritsuko blamed themselves. But on the whole, it was more his fault than there's.  
But he couldn't keep thinking like that. What was done, was done. And now all they could do was try to make amends.  
"They'll be fine," he said "We were, weren't we?"  
Matt looked at him a moment, then smiled.  
"Yeah," he said "We are."  
Tai gave him a hug, then kissed him lingeringly.  
"I love you Matt."  
"Thanks."  
For a brief moment, they just smiled at each, seeing nothing but the other. Then they went back to preparing the meal for four hungry mouths.  
  
The End.  
  
HOORAY! I'm finished, I'm FINISHED!!!!!!! Sorry you've all had to wait so long, some fics just take ages to write!  
Toshiki: Nearly a year.  
Eclipse: Go away Toshiki, this isn't anything to do with you at all.  
Toshiki: I'm your major muse, EVERYTHING is to do with me.  
Eclipse: Sod off. Anyway, I hope you people out there enjoyed it!   
Toshiki: You never know, maybe she'll write a sequel someday!  
Eclipse: Bye readers, hope you had fun and enjoyed yourselves! I did (mostly!) *takes Toshiki off to bash him over the head for saying the S-word!* 


End file.
